


Darling, It Was Good

by Scribbled



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-04-09 12:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 50,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4348585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribbled/pseuds/Scribbled
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Beca wants is a cup of coffee. Why does it keep coming with a redheaded barista who won't leave her alone? </p><p>aka: a Bechloe coffee shop AU, because who doesn't love a good trope?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Cup is the Deepest

**Author's Note:**

> This story is one giant trope, I'm aware. But I love coffee shop AUs and I haven't found too many Bechloe ones, so I decided to write it myself. Enjoy!

If there was one thing that Beca always needed, it was a cup of strong coffee. She lived on the stuff, completely addicted to the caffeine and absolutely reliant on its ability throw open the curtains of her brain. Beca Mitchell needed coffee like she needed air, so when she moved into a new apartment in Los Angeles, she knew that before unpacking a single box, she needed to find a place to get some coffee.

And that was how she found herself inside Holy Grounds, the local coffee shop that was just halfway down the block from her apartment. She opened the door to the shop and was instantly greeted with the comforting aroma of coffee beans. Beca breathed deep, savoring the smell and making her way to the counter.

Holy Grounds was surprisingly large for a locally owned coffee shop, with many overstuffed armchairs surrounding a brick fireplace on one side of the shop and several tables lining the walls. Plenty of room to do work when she got sick of the studio, Beca thought. She could easily set up her laptop and headphones in a corner to work on mixes and studio demos when she needed a change of pace. An eclectic mix of art hung on the dark blue walls, abstract paintings and photographs of sweeping landscapes. It was a nice atmosphere – comfortable, unassuming.

What really mattered to Beca, however, was the taste of the coffee.

Beca approached the counter and was greeted by a redhead whose smile was impossibly wide.

“Hi!” The barista said, grinning even wider (was that possible?) as her gaze bore into Beca. “Welcome to Holy Grounds!”

“Uh… thanks.” Beca said, slightly unsure how to respond to the bubbliness of the redhead. Beca didn’t exactly _do_ people – she enjoyed the company of her headphones, and even small social interactions like ordering coffee were unappealing to her. Especially when the other person was apparently really, really excited about it.

“What can I get for you?”

“Just a medium coffee, please. To go.” Beca pulled her wallet out of her back pocket, handing over a few bills to the barista.

“Sounds great! That’s two dollars, out of five…” The redhead focused on the cash register, her bright smile relaxing into a happy grin as she counted out Beca’s change. “Here you go!” Beca nodded, slipping the ones back into her wallet. “What’s your name?” The redhead asked.

It was a normal question, Beca supposed, for a barista to ask when making someone coffee – but there were no other customers to get her confused with at that moment. It’s not like the redhead needed to write her name on the cup to identify her. Beca shifted uncomfortably, unsure why the woman was making small talk when Beca really just wanted to get her coffee and get out of there. There was something about the barista, though – her eyes were _so_ blue, and they looked at Beca with a brightness that she had never before experienced in another person’s gaze.

So she found herself answering the question. “Uh… Beca’s my name.”

“It’s so nice to meet you, Beca! I’m Chloe.” The redhead, _Chloe,_ held out a hand over the cash register. Beca simply stared at it for a second before remembering that generally an outstretched hand indicates desire for a handshake. She took Chloe’s hand and gave it a firm shake, and then promptly shoved her hands back into her pockets.

“I’ll get your coffee!” Chloe gave her another dazzling smile and then turned around, a bundle of energy, to pour coffee into a cup for Beca. She glanced around the coffee shop again, taking note of the several students scattered around the tables, typing away on laptops with long-empty mugs at their side. Beca turned back to the counter as Chloe returned, coffee in hand.

“Here you go, Beca!” She passed over the coffee with a giant grin. Beca wondered if the redhead was ever _not_ smiling. “I hope you enjoy it, and I hope we see you back here again!”

Beca gave the barista a small smile – more than most people got out of her – and a quick thanks, and then headed towards the door. It wasn’t until she was outside, making her way down the absurdly sunny sidewalk, when she noticed the writing on the cup. It was her name, spelled correctly, which was rare for someone to guess, and a small heart doodled underneath. Beca found herself grinning just slightly as she raised the cup to her lips.

 _Damn._ That was some good coffee.

* * *

 

Chloe Beale loved her job. In fact, “love” was perhaps even too mild a word for her feelings – she _adored_ her job. When her dearest friend Aubrey had proposed the idea of opening a coffee shop, their _own_ coffee shop, after graduation, Chloe didn’t think it would be possible. Sure, Aubrey was getting a master’s in business and Chloe had years of managing a coffee shop under her belt, but local businesses rarely did well. She hadn’t believed they could ever actually pull it off.

But here they were, several years later. Holy Grounds was a successful coffeehouse and Chloe could not be happier with her life.

She and Aubrey still worked behind the counter of the shop frequently – they had other employees, bakers and baristas, and they both had to spend time dealing with the business aspects of their, well… _business_ – but they both loved being in the thick of it and interacting with customers. That is, Chloe loved it; Aubrey was more interested in making sure things were running correctly by doing all the work herself. But Chloe didn’t mind – Aubrey was intense sometimes, but she loved her best friend and they worked well together.

At the moment, however, Chloe was in the back office of the coffee shop, dealing with inventory. It was mid-morning on a Tuesday and Chloe had been doing office work since she got in at the crack of dawn. She was not thrilled about it, to say the least. With a huff, she rose from her desk and stretched, shaking out the sluggishness that came with bending over paperwork for hours, and went out to the shop with a smile on her face.

“Aubrey!” She chirped, grabbing a giant mug and filling it with some coffee for herself, “I just _cannot_ do more paperwork right now. I can’t.”

Aubrey glanced at Chloe and rolled her eyes. “I’ve got customers, Chlo.” She turned back to the gangly teenager who was peering up at their chalkboard menu with a look of confusion on his face.

“I’m taking a break.” Chloe said to no one in particular. She _had_ accomplished quite a lot of work that morning, so she didn’t feel guilty taking a long, calming sip of coffee and strolling out from behind the counter to find a place to relax for a minute. Looking around the shop, she noticed a few of the regulars – the middle-aged college professor who loved to grade papers while stretched out on an armchair, a twenty-something couple who seemed to constantly be together in their shop, and a couple of students who were typing away at their laptops in between frenzied gulps of coffee.

In the back corner of the shop, however, a small brunette caught Chloe’s eye. A wide smile stretched across Chloe’s face as she recognized the woman huddled up behind a laptop – it was Beca, the girl who had come in the shop the day before. Chloe had wondered if Beca was new to the area and looking for a new coffee shop to frequent; the way the brunette had scanned the shop suggested that she was analyzing it for more than just a one-time cup of a coffee. The fact that Beca was back now told Chloe that she must have been right.

Beca was hunched over her laptop, a large pair of headphones over her ears and her brow furrowed in a somewhat adorable look of frustration. Chloe thought for a fleeting moment that she should leave Beca to her work, but her curiosity about the brunette got the better of her and she made her way to the back table, pulling out the other chair and taking a seat across from Beca.

It took a moment for Beca to realize Chloe was there – the redhead took a long, somewhat obnoxious gulp of coffee from her bright yellow coffee mug, and Beca jumped in surprise at the new occupant of her table. She yanked her headphones off her ears, letting them settle around her neck.

“Dude, what –“

“Hi, Beca!” Chloe said, smiling brightly. “How are you?”

"Uh… I’m fine.” Beca stared at Chloe, her eyes wide in confusion.

“Chloe, remember?” Chloe said, gesturing to herself with a grin. “I’m so glad to see you back here! So I take it you liked the coffee I made you yesterday?” She winked.

Beca was silent for a moment, eyes narrowed as she stared at the redhead. Chloe could tell that Beca wasn’t completely comfortable, but a lot of people reacted that way when they first met Chloe. She really wanted to know the brunette – though she couldn’t explain why, exactly – and she was willing to push through some social discomfort in order to make friends with Beca.

“Yeah…” Beca finally answered, “Yeah, it was good coffee.”

A warm grin spread across Chloe’s face. “Thank you!” Beca simply nodded and turned back to her computer, as if to dismiss the barista. Chloe wasn’t having any of that, though. “What are you working on?”

Beca let out a breath. Chloe worried briefly that she was bothering the brunette _too_ much and should maybe back off, but her curiosity was stronger than her insecurity so she simply leaned forward, waiting for Beca to answer. “Music.” Beca said, looking back at her computer.

“Oh. Well… I love music. What kind of music, exactly? Are you a musician? What do you do?” The questions came out in a rapid fire, and Chloe blushed slightly as she watched Beca smirk at her. The girl had a pretty adorable smirk.

“I’m a DJ.” Beca said, grabbing her mug and taking a swig of coffee before continuing, “I spin at a few local clubs, and I am also trying to break into music production.”

Okay, so Beca was adorable _and_ a total badass. Chloe was finding herself more intrigued by the second. “That is _so_ cool! Music production? Like working with artists and putting stuff on the radio?” Beca nodded. “Damn, Beca. That’s hardcore.”

Beca’s cheeks tinted a pretty shade of pink as she blushed slightly. “Well, like I said – just trying to break into that business. Putting together demos and stuff… yeah.”

“Is that what you’re working on now? A demo?” Chloe really wanted to peek around at the screen of Beca’s laptop, but she figured that might be crossing a line of privacy. She refrained for the moment, folding her hands in her lap to keep from fidgeting.

“No…” Beca looked at her laptop and then back at Chloe. “I do my bigger projects at home, where I have all my equipment. Right now I’m just working on a mashup. It’s nothing special.” She shrugged.

“I love mashups!” Chloe exclaimed, “Once I heard this mashup between two Taylor Swift songs – I listened to that _forever.”_

Beca raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Taylor Swift, huh?”

"Don’t judge. This place is named after a Taylor Swift song, you know.” Chloe gestured towards chalkboard menu above the counter.

“Holy Grounds?” Beca gave a thoughtful nod. “And here I thought this might be some weird new-age church thing.”

Chloe chuckled. “No, no… we just couldn’t resist the T-Swift reference _and_ the coffee pun. I’m not one to judge religion, but my coffee shop is _definitely_ not one.”

“Your coffee shop?”

“Oh, yeah. I co-own this place with my best friend Aubrey – that blonde at the counter.” Chloe cast a glance over to her friend, who was currently rolling her eyes at something one of the baristas, Stacie, must’ve said.

Beca followed her gaze. “Yeah, she served me my coffee today…. Can’t say she was as, ah, _friendly_ as you were.”

Chloe grinned. “Aubrey can be a little… intense. But she’s a great businesswoman, and an even better friend.”

“I didn’t know you owned this place, I figured you just worked here.” A slight smile played on Beca’s lips. “That’s… cool.”

“Thanks!” Chloe beamed. “Speaking of cool, can I listen to your mashup?”

Beca was clearly surprised by this request – her cheeks turned red and she bit her lip in hesitation. “I don’t know… it’s not finished. And I don’t really… well I don’t really _know_ you.”

Chloe cocked her head to one side. “What better way to get to know someone than through music?”

Beca gave her a blank stare for a moment, and then let out a chuckle. “Huh. I guess you’ve got a point there.”

“So I can listen to your mashup?” Beca bit her lip again. “ _Please?_ ”

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Beca pulled her headphones off her neck and slid the laptop so that it faced Chloe. She scooted her chair around, too, so that the two of them sat side by side. Chloe couldn’t contain her giant grin as she slipped the headphones over her ears – and _damn_ these things must’ve been expensive, she could practically feel the studio quality just seeping out of them. She looked at the screen of the laptop: a program displayed several different audio files, stacked on top of one another. At the bottom of the page were a bunch of boxes that controlled things like “reverb” and “compression”. Chloe had no clue what it all meant.

“Okay,” Beca said, her voice muffled in Chloe’s headphone-covered ears, “Like I said, it’s not quite finished. So, it’s a little rough, I guess.”

“Just play it!” Chloe didn’t care how rough the track was – and she probably wouldn’t be able to tell anyway. She just wanted to hear some of Beca’s music.

The brunette pressed play and sat back, watching Chloe’s reactions to the song. She recognized the backbeat as the song “Lean On” by Major Lazer, though it was made much more interesting by whatever effects Beca had put on it. Chloe couldn’t tell what they were, exactly, but she knew it was different from the original song, and just… better. When the chorus came in, however, Chloe’s smile transformed into an open-mouthed expression of excitement. Beca had somehow layered Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” into the mix, and though Chloe would’ve thought the two to be an odd combination, it worked _perfectly._ Chloe couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off her face for the entire rest of the song, and when she looked over to Beca at the end, she saw that the brunette was smiling, too. It was small and definitely a little embarrassed, but it was a smile.

“Taylor Swift!” Chloe exclaimed, pulling the headphones off her head, “You were totally just judging me about Taylor Swift, and here you are using her in a mix! That was amazing!”

Beca shrugged, a blush lighting up her face. “I don’t know, it’s a little rough. And yeah, I _definitely_ don’t like Taylor Swift…. It’s just for this one mix.”

“What _ever._ ” Chloe said, swatting Beca lightly on the arm. “You totally love Tay. You’re a Swiftie.” Beca rolled her eyes. “Seriously though, that was so great. Thanks for letting me listen.”

“Of course. I’m glad you liked it.” Beca gave a small smile, and Chloe decided that seeing a genuine smile on Beca’s face was probably her new favorite thing. 

Chloe wanted to ask Beca more about her life – wanted to make her smile some more – but her plans to befriend the DJ were cut short as a long line started to form at the counter. Aubrey shot Chloe a significant look, and Chloe sighed, rising from her chair. “I need to go help Bree before this place is over-run. Lunchtime rush, you know.”

“Right. See you around.” 

“Bye, Beca!” Chloe grabbed her empty mug and hurried back behind the kitchen, where she seamlessly fell into routine of filling mugs and wrapping up pastries for the customers eager for their caffeine fix. She worked steadily throughout the rest of the afternoon, but she couldn’t keep her gaze from wandering to a certain brunette sitting in the corner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you think I should keep writing this! I'm dreadful with continuing things unless I have motivation to do so. Sorry for the gratuitous Taylor Swift references -- the title of this also comes comes from her song "Holy Ground." You should listen to it, it's lovely. Also the title of this chapter really has no significance at all, I just wanted to use that pun. Sorry. 
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr about this AU, pitch perfect, or any other nonsense. I'm over there as crazypitches.


	2. Club Goin' Up

“Hey, Em, how’s it going?” Beca leaned back in her desk chair, plopping her bare feet up to rest beside her mixing deck.

“Beca! It’s great! Georgia is really great!” Emily’s voice came through Beca’s cell phone in a rush of excitement. She was always that way – excited and eager to experience life – and she was one of the very few people that Beca could stand. They were an odd pair, perhaps, with Emily’s childlike enthusiasm for _everything_ and Beca’s detached disdain for… well, everything. They had met in college, though, while Beca was a senior and Emily was a freshman. Music was their common factor, as it was with most of Beca’s friends, and now they worked together on producing music while Emily finished up school. At the moment, however, Emily was on vacation – visiting her boyfriend, Benji, at his school in Georgia.          

“You and Benj behaving?” Beca smirked as Emily gasped, no doubt embarrassed by the accusation that she and Benji could be anything but adorable, perfect children.

“Of course we are! Benji is just a sweetheart.”

She sounded so happy, Beca couldn’t help but give a bit of a smile. “Good to hear.”

“What are you up to?”

Beca glanced at her computer monitor. Her screen was packed with several different programs that were all working together to make music. “Well,” Beca said, “I’m working on a demo for this weird new singer.”

“Oh, cool! Who is it?”

Beca rolled her eyes. “You, dummy.”

“Oh!” Emily was a bit naïve, but Beca couldn’t help but love the nerd anyway. “Well, how’s it going?”

“Pretty well… I think I’m almost done with them, actually. I’ll wait til you get back to send them anywhere, obviously. Gotta have your input.” Emily had written music for the songs with occasional input from Beca, who was producing it. They intended to send the demo out to several different record labels, hoping that someone would pick them up. And, hopefully, offer Beca an internship or, if the world _really_ likes her for once, an actual job.

“I’m _so_ excited to hear them, dude!” Emily did in fact sound very excited, letting out a little squeal. “I’m sure they’re great.”

“Hope so.”

“How’s the new apartment? Are you all moved in?” Emily had left for Georgia trip a week ago, just before Beca had moved into her new apartment.

“It’s pretty good, small… but you know, that’s Los Angeles, I guess.”

“Yeah. It’s a great location, right? What’s the neighborhood like?”

Beca took her feet of the desk and leaned forward in her chair, grabbing her water bottle and taking a swig before answering. “It’s, uh… good, I guess. Mostly just apartments around me. There’s some shops a block over, though. Good coffee shop.” Beca smirked a bit thinking of Holy Grounds. They _did_ have good coffee, even if the ownership was a little… friendly. Normally that would irritate Beca quite a lot, but she found that she didn’t really mind in this instance. Weird.

“Sounds awesome. I can’t wait to visit when I get back!”

“Yeah, you can help me unpack all this shit.” Beca looked behind her at the living room that was still full of unpacked boxes. She’d been there four days, now, and she still hadn’t bothered to set up much more than her studio and a few pieces of clothing. Those were the essentials, after all.

“Of course you haven’t unpacked yet,” Emily said, her voice critical but lacking any real threat. “I’ll help you out when I’m back.”

“Looking forward,” Beca said, turning her attention back to the computer. “I’ll let you go, now – don’t want to take away your Benji time. Tell him hi for me.”

“I will! Have a great day, Beca! See you soon!”

Beca rolled her eyes and grinned as she ended the call and set her phone back down on the desk. She clicked around on the computer for a bit, thinking about adding another layer of synth at the bridge of the song, but not feeling particularly motivated to actually work on it. She let out a long breath of air, stretching her arms in front of her.

 _I need some coffee._ She rose from her chair slowly, as if she had about thirty more years on her, and groaned as she entered the kitchen and eyed the coffee pot. She _could_ be responsible and make her coffee here, or she could take some work to Holy Grounds and buy her coffee. They had good coffee, and, though Beca would never, ever admit it, she could use some social interaction after being holed up in her house for three days straight.

She packed her laptop and headphones into a backpack, locking her front door and heading down the sketchy stairwell of the apartment building. Once out on the street, Beca groaned outwardly at the heat of the day. She loved LA, but it was fucking hot. Luckily, the walk to the coffee shop was a short one.

Throwing open the front door of Holy Grounds, Beca gave of a sigh of relief and stepped into the air-conditioned space. She walked up to the counter and was greeted by an absurdly bright smile and impossibly blue eyes.

“Hi, Beca!” Chloe said as Beca approached. “How’s your day going?”

Beca wasn’t entirely unhappy to see the barista – as much as she hated small talk with strangers, it was also kind of nice to have someone ask how her day was. And for some reason, Beca felt as though Chloe actually cared about the answer. “It’s okay, kind of slow. How’s business?”

Chloe’s grin widened as Beca asked about the cafe. “Better now that you’re here!”

Uh, that was… _flirty._ Beca swallowed hard, awkwardly unsure how to respond to that comment. Chloe didn’t let her stay uncomfortable for long, though – she laughed the comment away and asked Beca for her order.

“Large coffee, please.” She pulled her wallet out of her pocket, counting out bills.

“No, no!” Beca looked up to see Chloe holding a hand up. “It’s on the house today.”

“Uh… why?” 

“Because you let me listen to your music last time you were in here.”

Beca raised an eyebrow. “That gets me free coffee?”

Chloe grinned, nodding. “Yep!”

“I want to pay you for it, though…”

“Absolutely not.” Chloe crossed her arms across her chest, taking up an authoritative pose. A tall, dark-haired barista handed Beca her coffee over the counter, casting a weird look at Chloe and then returning to the other side of the shop. Beca raised her cup to Chloe, maintaining eye contact with those ridiculous blue eyes, and then slipped a five dollar bill in the tip jar before walking away.

“Wait, hey –“ Beca grinned as she heard Chloe call after her.

* * *

 

Chloe fell into one of the Holy Grounds’ armchairs with a loud sigh, letting her head lean against the back and closing her eyes. She had just locked the doors after a particularly long Friday, and though she still needed to finish cleaning up with Aubrey and Stacie, she wanted a minute off of her feet. She lifted her head as she heard the others approach, also sinking down into chairs.

“Fridays are the worst.” Aubrey said, rolling her shoulders in an effort to relieve some tension.

“Definitely.” Stacie groaned. They all fell silent, enjoying a moment of peace after the busy day. After a few minutes Stacie sat up suddenly, a bright look on her face. “Guys, let’s go out tonight!”

“Ugh, no.” Aubrey said, “I do notwant to spend my evening with a bunch of loud twenty-somethings.”

Stacie scoffed. “Aubrey, you _are_ a loud twenty-something.”

“So?”

Chloe giggled at her friends. “I don’t know, Stace – I’m pretty tired.”

Stacie rolled her eyes. “Well you won’t be if you’re out on the town! It’ll energize you right up.”

“I have to be at work early.” Aubrey said, brow furrowed in determination to win this battle.

“Oh _please._ ” Stacie threw her head back in exasperation. “Aubrey, you don’t have to be at work when the baker gets here. Jessica is perfectly capable of making muffins on her own. Besides, we don’t open til 9:00 on Saturdays, _and_ it’s Chloe’s day off tomorrow. It’s the best night to go out.” Chloe and Aubrey were silent for a while, Chloe considering the brunette’s offer while Aubrey stubbornly refused eye contact. “Look,” Stacie continued, “I know you guys are my bosses and all, but as your friend I’m saying you need a break. For real.”

Chloe pulled her feet up on the armchair, tucking them underneath her. “You want to go to the Bar Den?” It was a bar close to where Chloe lived and their go-to for nights out.

Stacie made a face. “We could…. Or we could go somewhere new for once.”

“New?” Aubrey scoffed, “You want to force us to go out _and_ take us somewhere new?”

Stacie laughed. “Weren’t you two big party girls in college? You’re such old ladies now.”

Chloe put a hand to her chest, feigning offense. “Excuse me, we are _businesswomen._ We have a reputation to uphold.”

“Well, that reputation is going to have to take a backseat for tonight. You guys are coming out with me.”

Aubrey huffed in annoyance. “Where do you propose we go?”

Stacie thought for a moment, and then smiled. “There’s a club I’ve been meaning to go to forever. It’s called the Edge.”

“Like that guitar player from U2?”

“Uh… no. At least I don’t think so. I heard they play really good music, though, and the cocktails aren’t too expensive.”

Chloe wondered briefly what Beca would think of the music at this club. She was a DJ, after all. She blinked, trying to clear away thoughts of the tiny musician. Beca hadn’t been by the coffee shop in a few days, and it’s not like Chloe actually knew her anyway. The fact that she was so intrigued by Beca without actually knowing her… it was probably weird.

“So?” Stacie asked, still waiting to hear thoughts about the club.

“I’m down,” Chloe decided, “I’m tired but we haven’t been out in a while. It could be fun. Bree?” Chloe turned to her friend, pulling out her best puppy dog expression to get the blonde to agree to the outing.

“Ugh.” Aubrey rolled her eyes. “I guess, if you insist, I’ll come out for one drink.”

“Woohoo!” Stacie pumped the air, jumping out of her armchair. “Let’s get this place cleaned up and get out of here!”

* * *

Chloe was surprised to see the long line outside of the Edge. She hadn’t been out to a proper club in ages, and she wasn’t terribly excited about waiting in line to get in. Hopefully Stacie was right about this place and the good music and cheap drinks would be worth it. After a few minutes of waiting, Chloe flashed her ID at the bouncer and entered the darkened club, Aubrey and Stacie in tow.

The club was fairly sizeable, with a big dance floor in the middle of the room and a long bar to one side. Booths and tables lined the other walls, and there was a staircase that led to a balcony.

“Let’s get drinks!” Stacie shouted above the pumping club music, pulling Chloe and Aubrey over to the bar. “I heard the house DJ is going to start pretty soon, so we should get fueled up for some dancing!”

Chloe grinned at Stacie and leaned over the bar. It didn’t take long for the bartender to notice her (being an attractive redhead had its perks) and she ordered a vodka soda. The drink came quickly and Chloe took a long sip. Sure, she may be an “old lady” now, but she still loved her jiggle juice.

Once they all had their drinks, they made their way to the other side of the club, finding an open table.

“What do you think?” Stacie asked.

Aubrey gave Stacie a thumbs up, taking a giant gulp of her drink. Chloe grinned at the blonde. She knew that now Aubrey was here, she wouldn’t be leaving after just one drink. Chloe watched the dance floor for a moment – it was pretty packed, a bunch of people moving back and forth to the beats blaring through speakers across the club.

As the song ended, a loud collective cheer rose up from the crowd on the dance floor.

“What’s happening?” Chloe asked, turning to Stacie.

Stacie shrugged. “Maybe the DJ is coming on, I don’t know.”

Sure enough, a voice came over the speaker. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! How are we all tonight?” Another chorus of cheers came from the crowd. Chloe laughed at the drunken antics of some girls who clearly very excited to dance. She also couldn’t help but feel that something about the DJ’s voice was familiar. “My name is Beca Mitchell and I’m your DJ for the night.” Wait… Beca. DJ. Chloe’s eyes widened in realization. Was this _her_ Beca? Well, not hers, really, but the Beca she knew….

Chloe looked up to the balcony, assuming that’s where the DJ was set up. Sure enough, there was Beca, looking down on the dance floor with a sly grin on her face. Holy _shit._ Beca looked different than usual – she still had the same punk look about her, with heavy eyeliner, but there was something about the way she looked at the mixing station that just exuded pure confidence. Beca had seemed to Chloe like a timid, antisocial person, but she could tell that here, as a DJ, Beca was in her element.

“I’m going to start us off with one of my own mixes. Dance responsibly, and don’t forget to tip your bartenders!” Beca smirked as the crowd cheered, and then turned her microphone away and threw headphones over her ears. Soon, the club was filled with powerful beats, melodies of several different songs weaving in and out of the mix.

“Guys,” Chloe said, leaning over the table, “I know the DJ!”

“You do?” Aubrey said, furrowing her brow.

“Yeah, it’s that girl Beca I was telling you about!”

Aubrey frowned. “The one with the ear monstrosities.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. She had no idea why Aubrey didn’t like Beca. Stacie smiled, though. “You two were _totally_ about to bang the other day.”

Chloe’s mouth fell open in surprise. “Uh, _what?_ ”

“When you were trying to give her free coffee?” Stacie smirked.

“We weren’t about to… _Jesus,_ Stacie. I was just trying to be nice to her.”

“You like her?” Aubrey said, casting a critical look towards Chloe.

“I want to be her friend.” Chloe leaned back with a huff. “You guys are ridiculous.”

Stacie twisted around, looking up at the DJ booth. “Well, she’s hot. I’m digging the whole DJ vibe. You should go for it, Chlo.”

“I’m not going for _anything_.” Chloe said, taking a long drink of her vodka soda. She looked back up at Beca, though, who was moving to the music as she adjusted something on her mixing board. She decided she would go say hi to the brunette at some point during her set. Maybe after Chloe had had a few more drinks in her system. “Let’s dance.” 

* * *

 

The night passed by in a series of really good club mixes and really not great cocktails. Chloe kept her eyes on the DJ booth more than she probably should have. She couldn’t tear her gaze away, though – not when _so_ many people were making their way up to the mixing table to flirt with Beca.

Chloe started to rethink her decision to visit Beca when she noticed the first guy make his way up there, bringing a drink to the DJ. She had talked to him for a moment, smirking, before turning back to her mixing board with a smile. And she did the same with each person who went up, men and women alike. It was weird for Chloe to watch. Beca wasn’t exactly flirty, but she certainly wasn’t discouraging the attention, either. Chloe wondered what she was doing with all of those drinks – surely if she had consumed them all she would be passed out right now, not expertly melding one track of music into another.

Beca continued to socialize, though, and Chloe started to grow a little bitter. Dancing with her girls was always fun, so she couldn’t stay irritated for too long, but every time she saw a new person talking to Beca, she felt a twinge of annoyance.

 _Knock it off, Beale._ She thought. _You have no_ _claim to her._ She couldn’t be angry with Beca, and she shouldn’t even be annoyed with the people trying to flirt with her. It’s not like she even knew the girl, really. She needed to let it go.

“Chlo!” Stacie called over the chaos of the dancefloor, “Are you gonna go see your smokin’ hot DJ?”

Chloe rolled her eyes, and then glanced up once more to where Beca was stationed. A tall blonde woman was leaning towards Beca, gesturing with one hand as she spoke with the DJ. “Nah,” Chloe yelled back, “She looks pretty busy.”

Stacie shrugged. “Whatever you say!”

Looking back to the DJ station, Chloe saw Beca’s face light up with laughter. As she forced herself to look away, Chloe felt a slight churning in her stomach. She wasn’t so sure it was just from the alcohol.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the great response to the first chapter, it made me very excited to write some more! I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, you should come be my friend on tumblr, where I can be found as crazypitches.


	3. Watch Us Go Round and Round Each Time

Beca _hated_ being up early on Saturdays. She always worked late on the weekends, late enough to justify being dead to the world until noon at the earliest. As much as she loved being a DJ, she always needed a lot of time to recharge from a show – she had to interact with so many people throughout a night. Beca wasn’t sure why people felt the need to bring her drinks and talk to her when she really would like to just focus on the music, but she still had to be friendly to all the strangers in order to keep up a good reputation. And being friendly to strangers? Not easy for Beca.

That’s why after her weekend shifts, Beca wanted nothing to do with the waking world. This morning, though, she had been awakened by the shouts of some assholes on the street, and she couldn’t for the life of her get back to sleep.

And that was why, at this ungodly hour of 10:30 in the morning, Beca was headed towards Holy Grounds. She was in full-force grump mode, and all she wanted was a huge cup of coffee and to be left alone to work on some music.

But if Beca encountered a certain redhead while en route to being left alone, she wasn’t so sure she’d complain.

The café was fairly quiet when Beca entered. She supposed she must have missed the morning rush – or maybe everyone was still sleeping, as she _should_ be. Rolling her eyes at her own body for betraying her this morning, Beca walked up to the counter and was met with a tall blonde and a severe expression.

In other words, not Chloe.

“Hello, Beca.” The blonde (was her name Aubrey? Beca was pretty sure this was Aubrey) crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Beca, who in turned just raised her eyebrows in a challenging smirk.

“Uh, have I done something to offend you? And why do you know my name?”

“I don’t like your _attitude._ ” Aubrey’s frown deepened, if that was even possible at this point. “And I know your name because Chloe won’t stop talking about you.”

Beca felt a blush rise to her cheeks, despite all her attempts to fight it. “She… what?”

“I don’t know, Beca.” Aubrey spat. “Do you want coffee? I assume that’s why you’re here.”

Beca rolled her eyes and ordered a large coffee, black. “Uh, where is Chloe?” She asked before turning away from the angry blonde.

“Chloe doesn’t work on Saturdays. Your coffee will be out in a second.”

Beca was surprised to feel a twinge of disappointment upon hearing that the redhead wouldn’t be in today. Once she got her coffee from the other barista -- an Asian woman who said something to Beca that she couldn’t quite make out – Beca made her way back to the corner table that she was starting to think of as hers. As she settled down, pulling out her laptop and headphones, she glanced back to the counter, wondering about Chloe.

Why had the barista been talking about her? They hadn’t interacted that much… Though Beca _had_ shown Chloe her music, which was something that didn’t really happen with anyone who wasn’t a close friend. She still wasn’t sure how Chloe had been able to so easily convince her to share her music, but there was something about the spirited redhead… Beca had felt an enormous satisfaction at being the cause of Chloe’s smile – the more she thought about it, the more it brightened her day.

Which was really fucking weird. Beca blinked hard, willing away these thoughts of Chloe. Beca didn’t do strangers; she didn’t like to talk to new people and she _definitely_ didn’t let her guard down just for a pretty smile. Chloe would be no exception.

So Beca opened up some programs on her computer and started working on a mashup. She made it about halfway through her editing when she felt another presence at the table.

 _What is it about me that gives off the impression that I want company?_ Beca thought, determined to keep her eyes glued on the screen and not look up. She literally spent an hour every day cultivating the perfect “fuck off” appearance. Why was she attracting so many strangers lately?

Eventually, Beca became entirely too uncomfortable with the situation and finally looked up. Across the table from her was a guy around her age, with short brown hair and a dopey grin. Beca put on her best angry glare and raised one eyebrow at him.

“Hey, you finally noticed me!” He said, grinning wider.

“Go away, please.” Beca was being nice – she said _please._

A wounded puppy expression appeared on his face, but Beca didn’t particularly care. “Aww, come on!” He said, “I want to talk to you!”

Beca’s glare intensified. “Why? I’m busy.”

The grin reappeared on his face. “Well, take a break! I’m Jesse.” He held out a hand. Beca gave it a look and then pointedly returned her attention to her computer screen. “Okay…” Jesse said, folding his hands on the table. “What’s your name?” Beca ignored him. “Okay, well… what’s your deal? Are you one of those girls who's all dark and mysterious, then she takes off her glasses and that amazingly scary ear spike and you realize that, you know, she was beautiful the whole time?”

This made Beca look up again. “Fuck you,” She spat, getting seriously annoyed, “I’m beautiful _with_ glasses and an ear spike.” She didn’t wear glasses, actually – but _still,_ where does this guy get off, telling her people would “realize she’s beautiful” if she changed her appearance? “And maybe I _want_ to be amazingly scary.”

Jesse looked properly frightened. He raised his hands in apology. “Whoa, okay… Look, I didn’t mean it like that –“

“I don’t care.” Beca said, narrowing her eyes. “I’m not some character in a movie. Don’t reduce me to that.”

Jesse was silent for a moment, and then nodded slowly at her. “Okay, I’m really sorry. Can I have another chance?” His eyes widened in a hopeful expression. Beca stared at him for a moment, and then sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Go buy me a coffee,” She glanced over to where Aubrey was cleaning something behind the counter, “And then maybe next time I’ll give you another chance.”

Apparently this was an appropriate trade, because Jesse brightened significantly and bounded out of his chair to get the coffee. Beca felt slightly guilty for extorting the man for caffeine, but not guilty enough to take it back. Jesse returned with a large mug of coffee and sat down again across from her.

“Ah, no.” Beca said, pointing to Jesse firmly. “I said next time. Now, you leave me alone.”

Jesse nodded solemnly and rose from his seat. “If I must. Can you at least tell me your name, though?”

She stared at him for a moment, and then rolled her eyes. “Beca.”

With that, Beca turned her attention back to her laptop and refused to look up again.

* * *

Beca Mitchell had been coming to Holy Grounds a lot lately. Not that Chloe was even paying attention to that. She definitely hadn’t noticed that Beca had spent five days out of the last week working at the corner table of Chloe’s café. She also wasn’t at all excited when she heard that Beca had asked about her on her Saturday off, and her Tuesday off after that. And she definitely didn’t steal glances over to the corner table whenever she was working the counter. Definitely not.

But Beca was indeed here, nearly every day, and it would just be downright rude of Chloe to ignore one of their regulars, right? Aubrey didn’t seem to think that was a logical justification for Chloe’s interest in the DJ – and maybe she was kind of right, Chloe really didn’t talk to any of the regulars more than passing pleasantries over the cash register – but even so, Chloe felt a strong need to make sure Beca was completely content every time she was in Holy Grounds.

That wasn’t too hard to accomplish – Beca was happy with her black coffee and she always insisted on paying for it, despite Chloe’s best efforts to give it to her for free (another new habit that Aubrey was not particularly fond of). For the most part, Beca would just work by herself on her laptop, and Chloe would leave her to it. There were times, though, when Beca would lean back in her chair and let out a yawn, looking out over the shop and occasionally making eye contact with Chloe. It was in those moments that Chloe would abandon the counter (if business allowed it) and join Beca at her table.

And Chloe was about 75% sure that Beca enjoyed it. The DJ was hard to read; she liked to hide behind smirks and eye rolls, and her sarcastic sense of humor made it difficult to decode her real emotions. Chloe thought she was getting pretty good at it, though. And every once in a while, in the midst of a conversation about music or one of Chloe’s ramblings about the goings on in the shop, Beca would give her a genuine smile.

Each time it happened, Beca Mitchell captured a little more of Chloe’s heart.

Chloe didn’t want to think about that too much – she remembered the long line of suitors who had approached Beca at the club last Friday. If that was Beca’s social life, Chloe was pretty certain that she wouldn’t fit into it. Romantically, at least. But she was still drawn to Beca and she still wanted to spend time with the snarky DJ.

So, about two weeks after she first met Beca, Chloe decided that she was going to make Beca her friend. The part of her that felt slightly floaty every time Beca spoke, the part of her that got stupid happy whenever Beca laughed at her jokes, the part of her that _undoubtedly_ had a massive crush on the DJ – well, that part would have to wait.

* * *

Beca had been sitting at her table in Holy Grounds for about an hour and had yet to see Chloe. It wasn’t a Saturday or a Tuesday, so she knew that Chloe was probably working. So where was that weird redhead? Beca looked around the café again, seemingly unable to focus on her work for the moment.

 _Christ, Beca._ She thought, running a hand through her hair. _Knock it off._

Chloe was a pleasant person to have around, sure – she seemed really interested in what Beca had to say, and she also gave Beca the gift of coffee all the time, so Beca couldn’t _not_ like her. The barista was a lot to handle – she was always so smiley and excited, who is like that? –but Beca, despite her better judgement, kind of liked talking to her.

But she wasn’t around today, apparently. Who cares. No big deal.

Beca opened her email, seeing a new message from her manager, Amy. In the last week, Beca had made a lot of progress on her demo with Emily, and Amy had started to send it out to several studios. Amy was another friend from college and while Beca had insisted that she didn’t need a manager yet, Amy firmly believed that Beca would be the next big thing, and thus, would soon be working with a bunch of popstars.

“I’m not in it for you, shorty.” She’d said several times, “I’m in it for the beautiful people that will be crawling all over me once you’re famous.”

Beca was pretty sure that the beautiful people were supposed to be crawling over _her_ when she became famous, but that didn’t sound incredibly appealing, so she gladly handed that fully hypothetically duty over to Amy.

Beca clicked open the email and scanned it quickly – apparently Amy was currently discussing her demo with two different studios. They were both mid-size labels, with a handful of notable artists each. This was… unexpected. Beca hadn’t actually believed anybody would pick up her demo, but if Amy was talking to these people, that meant they hadn’t rejected her yet. Her dreams might actually come true.

“What’s that smile for?”

Beca nearly launched herself out of the seat at the sound of a chipper voice across from her. She looked up to see Chloe, all red hair and bright blue eyes, grinning at her. “Jesus, Chloe.” Beca said, taking a deep breath. “You scared me.”

Chloe grimaced. “Sorry! Here, have some coffee to make up for it.”

“I didn’t –“

“I know, but you looked like you could use a refuel. It’s on me.” Chloe sat down across from Beca, who rolled her eyes. Why was Chloe always trying to pay for her coffee? It was nice, she supposed… maybe Beca should put aside her pride for once and be a gracious person.

“Thanks.” Beca said, reaching out and wrapping her hands around the warm mug. The megawatt smile that Chloe shot her in response was well worth giving up on her stubbornness. Beca bit her lip, holding back a grin of her own. “Where did you come from?”

“I was in the back, on lunch break.” Chloe tucked a curly strand of hair behind her ear. “I didn’t realize you were here!”

“Well, yeah… I’m here.” Beca shrugged.

“So what are you up to? You seemed pretty happy when I came over.”

Beca felt a slight blush coloring her face. She prided herself on being hard to read (some people call it emotionally stunted, she calls it emotionally protected) and she kind of hated that she had let her excitement manifest on the outside. Even if she _was_ incredibly excited about this.         

“Uh…” Beca looked at her laptop, where her email from Amy was still open. “Just work stuff. Nothing too important.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow, looking as if she didn’t quite believe what Beca had said. She decided to let it drop, however, which Beca was grateful for. “Well I’m glad for whatever it is!” She seemed so genuine as she smiled at Beca, like she was really happy for the DJ even without needing to know what the whole deal was. That was kind of… nice.

Suddenly, Chloe reached out and grabbed Beca’s phone off the table. That was not so nice.

“Hey, what –“

Chloe held the phone out to Beca, her eyes wide and pleading. “Unlock it?”

“Why…” Beca was _not_ about to let this person she barely knew into her phone.

“I want to give you my number!”

“Uh, why…”

“Be _cause,_ ” Chloe said, “You and I are going to be fast friends.” 

Beca stared. Chloe’s eyes were so goddamn blue and she looked as if the world was going to crumble if Beca said no. Who allowed Chloe to have a face like that? The girl could probably get anything she wanted out of anyone. With a sigh, Beca reached over and entered the four-digit passcode to her phone. Chloe’s grin was instantaneous.

She poked around on Beca’s phone for a moment, typing in her name and number. When she handed it back over, Beca saw that she had also sent herself a text (a single ladybug emoji), so Chloe now had Beca’s number as well.

Maybe being friends with Chloe wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.

* * *

 

Chloe spent the rest of the afternoon smiling to herself at the counter. And probably looking over at Beca an inappropriate amount of times, but how could she not? She had the DJ’s number, now, and they were _totes_ going to be best friends. Best friends who _maybe_ had an unrequited crush between them. That part kind of sucked, but Chloe still couldn’t help but be excited.

Her excitement waned, however, when she noticed a man approach Beca’s table with a huge grin.

“Stacie,” Chloe called to the barista who was currently washing out a blender, “Who is that guy?”

Stacie set down her blender and came to stand beside Chloe, the two of them staring quite unsubtly at Beca’s table. The man had seated himself across from Beca and was talking animatedly – Beca, for her part, had a stony expression on her face.

“Oh,” Stacie said, “That’s Jesse. He comes in here pretty often, how have you not met him yet?”

Chloe shrugged. She liked to know her customers, but she hadbeen a little distracted lately. “What’s his deal with Beca?”

Stacie grinned mischievously. “Getting a little territorial there, tiger?” Chloe shot her a glare, and Stacie grinned wider. “I don’t know what their deal is. He was talking with her last Saturday, though.”

“She doesn’t look very happy.” Chloe felt almost relieved at that fact, and then immediately guilty. She shouldn’t wish Beca any unhappiness, even if she was just the tiniest bit jealous of this Jesse guy. Beca was sporting her fiercest glare as she spoke with Jesse – Chloe was kind of surprised she hadn’t scared him off yet.

“Yeah…” Stacie said, looking thoughtful. “She kind of started yelling at him last time they were together.” Chloe tore her gaze away from the pair, eyes widened. “Don’t know what about. But I remember Jesse seemed pretty happy by the end of their conversation, so it was probably nothing much.”

Nothing much? Chloe hoped so, despite her jealousy – she didn’t want some creep bothering Beca, especially in _her_ shop. She watched the two and noticed as Beca’s face began to soften bit by bit throughout their conversation. After a few minutes, Jesse had managed to produce one of Beca’s signature smirks.

Chloe felt an uncomfortable pang in her stomach, but still found some comfort in the fact that Beca hadn’t _really_ smiled yet. Not for this guy, so far.

Stacie placed a hand on Chloe’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, boss,” She said, watching Beca as well, “No way the little twerp is interested in him.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I being too mean to Jesse? Is Chloe too much of a puppy, watching Beca flirt with everyone but her? Are these chapters too short? Yeah, probably. Sorry. That won't last forever. Well, some of it. 
> 
> Thank you for reading and responding! You guys are the best. You should all come talk to me on tumblr at crazypitches about Bechloe, dumb gay nerds, and pretty much anything else.


	4. It Feels Like the Perfect Night

“Hey there, Becaw.”

Beca rolled her eyes at the overly excited person seated across from her, a dopey grin on his face. “Jesse.” She raised an eyebrow at him, waiting to hear what he wanted.

“So… time for that second chance, huh?” He leaned forward, poking his tongue between his teeth as he grinned at her.

Sighing, Beca saved the work on her laptop and looked up at Jesse properly. “I guess.”

Jesse beamed. “Great! So I was thinking, we could go out to-“

“Wait, what?” Beca cut him off, holding up a hand to silent his rapid-fire planning of something that Beca had _not_ agreed to. He stopped, looking at her in confusion.

“Uh, you said I could have a second chance…”

“That’s what this is, Jesse.” She gestured between them. “Me, talking to you, right now.”

Jesse frowned, looking down thoughtfully. “Oh.” After a moment’s pause, he bounced back with a smile. “Well _right now_ I’m going to take the opportunity to ask you on a date.” He leaned back in his chair with a smug expression, confident that he had bested Beca in whatever game of wills she was trying to play.

But Beca was never one to lose _any_ games. “Not interested.”   
“Oh, come on.”

Beca exhaled through her nose, not wanting to battle Jesse for her right to say no to a date. She grabbed her coffee mug in attempt to distract, but it was empty. Placing it back down, she looked to Jesse, schooling her face into the fiercest scowl she could. “I said I’m not interested, okay?”

Jesse was quiet for a moment, examining her. Beca never did all that well when subjected to the judgement of others – she hated being stared at. She held her ground, though, willing herself not to look away from his curious brown eyes. “Okay.” He relaxed into a soft smile. “Can we be friends?”

Beca blinked. She had expected him to leave her alone after the rejection. “I guess.”

 “Awesome.” He stood, suddenly, and pulled Beca to her feet by the arm. “Let’s get some more coffee.”

Being dragged to the café counter was not particularly enjoyable, Beca discovered as she tripped over her feet. She jerked out of his grasp as soon as they reached the counter, shooting him a dark look before looking to Chloe, who was watching them with a strange expression.

“Aww, you hear this?” Jesse said, tapping Beca on the shoulder in time to whatever was playing on the radio. “I _love_ this song. We sang this in my college acapella group.”

Beca took two steps backward, just out of Jesse’s reach, and raised an amused eyebrow. “You did acapella? Seriously?”  
Jesse put one hand over his heart, looking every bit the wounded puppy. “Yes, seriously! It was great!”

“Sounds pretty lame, dude.” She rolled her eyes and turned to Chloe, ready to abandon Jesse’s pouting in favor of the redhead’s bright smile.

“Hey,” Chloe said, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows at Beca, “I did acapella in college, too.”

“See? Not lame.” Jesse said beside her, but Beca ignored him.

Instead, she stared at Chloe, her eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. She probably looked like an idiot, she thought vaguely, but the thought of Chloe singing? Chloe -- with eyes like fucking sapphires and the smile of a Hollywood actress – could make _music_? If there was one key to Beca’s heart, it was music. _Not that that matters_ , she thought fiercely, frowning at herself. They were _friends_. Just as of an hour ago, too. So there was definitely no reason to consider Chloe and Beca’s heart in the same thought.

Chloe looked confused, and Beca realized that she probably should have responded to the barista like, a minute ago. “Uh, you can sing?” She asked dumbly, fruitlessly trying to act casual.

“Yeah!” Chloe’s bright grin was back, and Beca felt the tension in her shoulders (which was kind of a constant presence in her life nowadays) relax just slightly. “I love to sing.”

“Oh. Well, uh… we should sing together sometime?” Beca inwardly winced at her awkward proposal. “You know, now that we’re friends and all…” She bit her lip, willing herself to shut up. _Don’t be such a weirdo, Mitchell._

Chloe, though, couldn’t look happier. “I’d love that, Beca!”

Chloe’s smile was contagious, apparently, because despite her best efforts Beca could not hold back a grin. She cleared her throat in an attempt to cover her awkwardness, and then looked over to Jesse, who was eyeing them curiously.

“Uh,” Jesse said, now that Beca was acknowledging him again, “I’m guessing you’re not inviting me in on the singing?” Her instant glare must have been fiercer than normal, because Jesse simply held up his hands and laughed. “No complaints. What kind of coffee do you want, Becs?”

Beca rolled her eyes at the nickname. “Chloe already knows my order.” She passed a few bills to the barista and then walked away from them, deciding to await her coffee at the other end of the counter. A mildly uncomfortable interaction with the barista Stacie would be better than staying in the sudden tangle of awkwardness she felt around Chloe.

Back at the counter, Chloe turned to Jesse pleasantly. “What can I get for you?”

“Uh…” He said, looking after Beca, “Do you have anything that helps with rejection?”

* * *

 “So, what was all that about?” Jesse settled back into the chair across from Beca, a smirk on his face and his eyes glinting.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Beca took a long sip of her coffee (which was really still too hot to be taking a long sip of, but she didn’t much feel like staring at Jesse, either).

“Uh, _that.”_ Jesse jutted his head to the side and clicked his tongue, gesturing towards the counter. “I see why you don’t want to go out with me, now.”   
Beca rolled her eyes. “That is _not_ why I don’t want to go out with you.”

“Okay. I admit that there are probably plenty of reasons why you’re depriving yourself of my romantic company. That’s fine.” Jesse grinned. He really had a smug smile – part of Beca wanted to reach out and punch it off his face, but another part of her found it oddly and irritatingly charming. “But you can’t deny that you totally have a thing for red over there.”

 _Don’t you fucking blush, Beca Mitchell._ Beca could feel the heat rising to her cheeks so she busied herself with another sip of coffee, and then leveled a stone-cold glare at Jesse. “There is no ‘thing’ there.” She said, “We are friends. Barely that, even.”

Jesse opened his mouth wide, unbelieving. “You aren’t gonna pull this one past me, Becs! You were acting like a preteen with a crush when you found out she sings.”

“Shut up.” Beca grit her teeth, even though she could feel heat rising further up her neck.

“It’s okay, Beca.” Jesse gave her a smug smile, leaning back in his chair. “I totally get it. She’s hot _._ ” Beca’s felt the urge to snap at Jesse for talking about Chloe that way, but she stopped herself. That would have been a tad possessive for someone who is _barely_ friends with the barista. Besides, it’s not like Jesse was lying – Chloe _was_ hot. Any objective observer could see that. It definitely did not mean that Beca was into her.

“What do you want, Jesse?”

“I’m gonna help you get the girl!” He looked terribly excited. Beca felt horrified. “Seriously, I’ll be the best wingman ever.”

“There’s nothing for you to wingman _for.”_ Beca said through a clenched jaw. She narrowed her eyes. “Besides, who says I would need a wingman in the first place?”

“Oh, please.” Jesse shook his head with a smirk. “You’ve got no moves. I can tell already.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“I already know you better than you think!” He cast a glance over to the counter, and Beca followed his gaze for a moment. Chloe was chatting with a customer, looking as cheerful as ever. As the customer walked away from the counter, Chloe looked up to where they were sitting, making eye contact. Her smile brightened and she winked at Beca.

 _A wink? Jesus._ Beca’s limited social skills had never prepared her for a goddamn _wink._

“Beca,” Jesse said, his tone serious, “Do you even have her number yet?”

“Yes!” Beca retorted defensively. Of course, it had been Chloe who was responsible for their exchanging numbers, but Jesse didn’t need to know that.

“Wow, I’m so impressed.” Jesse chuckled. “Seriously though, you gotta get moving on that before she’s gone.”

“I’m not moving on anything, Jesse. Besides, she’s not interested in me in that way.”

Jesse’s smile grew and Beca looked at him warily, unsure of what she had said to make him more pleased. “So _you_ are? Interested, I mean.”

“No, I-“ Beca cleared her throat, “I just meant that there’s definitely nothing there.”

Jesse rolled his eyes, taking a play out of the Beca Mitchell book. “We’ll see about that.” He checked his watch, and then smiled back up at her. “I have to go to work, but I’ll see you around. Wait-“ He pulled out his phone, tapping in the passcode and handing it over to Beca. “Put your number in. We can hang out sometime.” Beca looked at him. “As _friends._ ”

“Okay,” Beca grabbed his phone, quickly typing her number. “As friends.”

Her gave her a wide smile and bid her goodbye before making his way out of the café. Beca watched him go – and she also looked over at Chloe, surprised to see a somewhat angry expression on the redhead’s face as she also looked towards the front door. Beca didn’t think she had ever seen Chloe _not_ smiling, and she wondered what it was that had upset the barista. She felt a strange surge in her chest; she was what, upset that Chloe was upset? That was ridiculous. Beca didn’t even know for sure that something had bothered the redhead, but she had also never seen Chloe with her brow furrowed so sharply, one lip pulled up between her teeth. Beca wanted to make that look go away, wanted to see Chloe smile.

And she got what she wanted – not by intervening herself (because obviously she wouldn’t do that, she didn’t care _that_ much…) but by watching as a new customer came through the doors and Chloe lit up in her usual way, welcoming them to her café.

Beca checked the time on her phone and decided that it was time for her to head back home, as well. She wanted to work on some new material to play at her set tomorrow night, and she knew it would be easier if she could input the sounds on her keyboard and synthesizer rather than her laptop. She unzipped her laptop bag, placed her stuff inside, and swung it over her shoulder.

As she made her way to the front, she looked back at Chloe once more. The redhead was still talking to the customer, but made eye contact with Beca and gave her a little wave as she passed. Beca responded with a brief upward tilt of her head, nodding to Chloe.

 _The hell was that?_ She thought, stepping out onto the street. _Why did you nod at her, are you a frat bro or something?_ Beca rolled her eyes at herself, stuffing her hands into her pockets as she walked home. She could be an awkward person, Beca knew that. There was a reason she hated superficial social interaction, after all. When she managed to hide behind her sarcasm and cynicism she did okay, but any time she had to engage in a conversation that wasn’t snarky – well, that could be a lot harder for her. And when the person she was interacting with was so ridiculously beautiful…

Beca shook her head, letting out an annoyed puff of air. Chloe was just a person. A person who, if Beca could stop acting like an idiot, might become a friend. But now, she was just the woman who served her coffee. There was no reason to get so worked up.

That’s what she kept repeating to herself, at least, as she tried unsuccessfully to get Chloe’s blue eyes and bright smile out of her head.

* * *

 

Chloe hadn’t seen or heard from Beca in two days. Not that she was counting. But since Wednesday – when they had exchanged numbers and then Beca had given her number to that stupidly charming idiot Jesse – Beca hadn’t been in the café. Nor had she texted, not that Chloe really expected Beca to text first. The DJ didn’t really seem like the type to initiate contact, or even appreciate it when someone else did.

Why, then, had Beca given Jesse her number? Chloe hated the way her stomach had plummeted as she had watched Beca roll her eyes and take Jesse’s phone, and she had felt an uncharacteristic surge of anger as she watched Jesse walk out of the café, a smug smile on his face.

 _Jealousy, stupid. That’s what that is._ Chloe leaned her head back against her couch, closing her eyes and letting out a long breath of air through pursed lips. She was currently alone in the apartment she shared with Aubrey, who was closing up the coffee shop today. Chloe ran a hand through her hair, frustrated.

Why was she so jealous of Jesse? She had Beca’s number too, didn’t she? As far as that was concerned, she and the acapella dude-bro were on an equal playing field. But he was a charming guy, in his own irritating way, and Chloe worried that while she was sitting here playing friends with Beca, Jesse would swoop in and they would get together. Also, he was a _dude._ Chloe couldn’t help but feel slightly insecure about that – besides, she had no clue if Beca was even into women in that way. There were moments when they were talking, though, that made Chloe feel like she might have a chance – moments when Beca would give her a genuine smile, or would stumble over her words in response to something Chloe said. And Beca had seemed weirdly excited to find out she could sing, and had even said they should sing together. That was a lot coming from the DJ, right?

“Well it doesn’t matter,” She said aloud to herself, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them, “Because you’re just friends. Friends, Chloe! Keep it together.”

She stared at the TV for a few moments – though it wasn’t turned on – and then let out a growl of frustration. _If we’re friends, then I can text her, dammit._ Chloe rose from the couch and crossed the small living room in a few strides, retrieving the phone that was charging on the kitchen counter. She leaned a hip against the counter and opened the message thread for Beca Mitchell, empty but for a single ladybug.

What was she supposed to say to Beca? _Hi, I’m going crazy thinking about you_ was definitely an inappropriate first text to send, even though it was all she was really thinking. After a few minutes deliberation and several different message drafts, Chloe finally sent a text to Beca.

_Chloe Beale: Hi! I’m going out with Aubrey and Stacie tomorrow night, I was wondering if you want to come?_

A simple invitation to hang out with friends. Multiple people, so that it couldn’t be misconstrued as a date (though that was more for Chloe’s sake than Beca’s), and going out to a public place to avoid the awkward intimacy of hanging out alone. A perfect plan, Chloe thought, until her phone dinged a few minutes later.

_Beca Mitchell: Well I would, but… I’m a DJ, I kind of work on the weekends_

Shit. Duh. Chloe felt like an idiot of not thinking of that sooner. She tapped back a quick answer.

_Chloe Beale: Oh yeah. Sorry, wasn’t thinking_

_Beca Mitchell: No problem_

Chloe sighed, making her way back to the couch in defeat. So much for that plan. She wasn’t expecting Beca to text again, but after a couple minutes passed she felt her phone vibrate once more.

_Beca Mitchell: You guys could come to the club I’m spinning at_

Chloe felt an ear-splitting grin stretch across her face. So Beca _did_ want to hang out with her, after all. Even better, she was inviting Chloe to see her perform. That was pretty cool, right? Chloe’s excitement waned a bit when she remembered the last time she had seen Beca spin at a club. She had never talked to the DJ about it, but it had left a sour taste in her mouth. It probably would only be worse, now; judging by her foul reaction to Jesse, Chloe would probably go berserk if she had to spend the evening watching random drunkards flirt with Beca.

How was she supposed to explain that to Beca, though? She should probably start by mentioning that she had seen Beca DJ before. Chloe hesitated, unsure if it would be strange for her to mention this nearly two weeks later. She wanted to know what Beca would say, though, and her curiosity got the better of her.

_Chloe Beale: You know I actually saw you DJ a couple weeks ago_

The response came before Chloe had even set her phone down.

_Beca Mitchell: You did? Why didn’t you say anything?_

Chloe stared at the message for a while, trying to decide how to respond.

_Chloe Beale: Idk… there were a lot of people talking to you and I didn’t want to bother_

_Beca Mitchell: Oh. Was this at the Edge?_

Chloe frowned. Why would that make a difference? She typed back an affirmative and waited for Beca’s response.

_Beca Mitchell: Yeah it has an open balcony so people come up there a lot, it’s really annoying_

So Beca hadn’t been enjoying all that attention? That’s not what it had seemed like at the time – she had accepted multiple drinks from her suitors and had chatted with each of them.

_Chloe Beale: Really?_

_Beca Mitchell: Yeah I have to humor them so I don’t get fired_

_Beca Mitchell: But they drive me crazy_

Oh. Chloe didn’t know exactly how to respond. She felt a little guilty for assuming that Beca enjoyed the attention from dozens of people in one night. It really made more sense that the DJ didn’t appreciate her drunken suitors – she didn’t seem like the type of person to bask in the limelight like that. Chloe should have known that from the start.

Either way, she apparently was taking too long to respond, because her phone buzzed again with a new text from Beca.

_Beca Mitchell: Uh… You wouldn’t drive me crazy though. Like, if you came to the club_

Chloe giggled. Somehow Beca had found a way to translate her somewhat awkward speech into text message. It was kind of adorable.

_Chloe Beale: Is that so?_

_Beca Mitchell: Well, I don’t know if I can say the same for Aubrey_

Chloe laughed. It would be good, she thought, to spend the evening watching Beca play her music. She was a ridiculously talented DJ, after all – Chloe had had more than one of her mixes play through her head since their first night out.

_Chloe Beale: Well, I can corral her. We’d love to come, where are you playing?_

_Beca Mitchell: Tomorrow I’m at this place called the Red Door. You been there?_

_Chloe Beale: Nope_

_Beca Mitchell: It has a VIP area near the booth, so you guys can come up there_

_Beca Mitchell: And no randos bringing me drinks, thank god_

Chloe couldn’t hold back another giggle at Beca’s exasperation.

_Chloe Beale: Yeah, I was wondering how you were coping with all of those drinks_

_Beca Mitchell: My manager drinks most of them, I have low tolerance_

_Chloe Beale: Well you are really tiny after all_

_Beca Mitchell: Excuse you_

_Beca Mitchell: I’ll have you know that many of my friendships have crumbled because of short jokes_

Chloe beamed at her phone. So this was a friendship. She felt inappropriately giddy about it, but even so, Chloe was glad that Beca considered her a friend.

_Chloe Beale: Well I think this one will withstand it, shorty_

_Beca Mitchell: Ugh_

With a chuckle, Chloe moved to put her phone on the coffee table. Just as she did, though, it lit up with one more message.

_Beca Mitchell: I guess so._

* * *

 

For the first time since the beginning of her DJ career, Beca was nervous. She stood behind the upper-level DJ booth, double checking her equipment before her set began. This was the routine three nights of the week; she was used to seeing tons of people on the dance floor, eagerly awaiting the music. She had even built a bit of a reputation as a decent DJ, so sometimes people would actually be waiting for _her_ in particular. But it never made her nervous, really.

Until now. Because Beca knew that it wasn’t the normal crowd of drunk twenty-somethings tonight – tonight, Chloe Beale would be there. And as much as she would like to deny it, Beca knew that was the reason her hands were shaking as plugged her laptop into the mixing board.

“Hey there, shortstack.” Beca looked backwards as her manager, Amy, approached the booth and patted Beca roughly on the shoulder.

“Amy.” Beca turned around and leaned against the booth.

“Woah… what’s your problem?” Amy shot her a look. “You look terrified. Do you need to borrow some of my Tasmanian-level bravery, Beca?”

Beca moved away as Amy reached out towards her, presumably to lend her some bravery. “No.” She held up her hands to ward off her friend, “I’m just… I have some friends coming tonight and I guess I’m just a little nervous.”

“Friends? Since when do you have friends?” Before Beca could scoff in reply, a new figure bounded towards them and scooped Beca up in a crushing hug.

“Beca, hi!” Beca knew Emily had just returned from her vacation to Georgia, but she hadn’t expected the tall brunette at the show tonight.

“Emily, what are you doing here?” She struggled out of Emily’s grip and took a couple steps back, unable to fathom why her friends suddenly thought it was okay to touch her.

Emily’s smile was so excited, though, that Beca couldn’t stay irritated for long. “I really missed you guys! I wanted to come out and see you, celebrate finishing the demo!”

“Well, there’s nothing to celebrate yet.” Beca said warily. She was optimistic about signing with one of the studios interested in their demo, but nothing was final and she didn’t want Emily to be too crushed if it didn’t work out.

But Amy, as always, had confidence to spare. “It’s a done deal.” Beca’s eyes widened, and Amy smiled guiltily. “I mean, not actually. Not really done. But with this gorgeous ass repping you guys, it’ll be done soon.” She ran a hand down her hips seductively, and Beca rolled her eyes.

“Don’t fuck with us, man.”

“Sorry. But really, I think it’ll work out soon.” Amy pointed at Beca and clicked her tongue. “You’re gonna be a rockstar.” Beca scoffed and checked the time on her phone. She had about five minutes to the start of her set. “By the way, Beca,” Amy continued, “when you said ‘friends’ I didn’t think you meant Emily. Why would you be nervous about that?”

“I _didn’t_ mean Emily. I have other friends, you know.” _Kind of._ She actually didn’t know the people Chloe was bringing with her, apart from her unpleasant interactions with Aubrey. She wouldn’t exactly classify her relationship with the uptight blonde as friendly.

“You have people coming tonight? Cool!” Emily grinned. At least she was supportive of Beca’s social life, as limited as that life may be. “When are they getting here?”

“Uh…” Beca looked out over the club, since Chloe had said they’d get there by the start of her set. And sure enough, Beca spotted a flash of red hair talking to the bouncer at the bottom of the stairs, and then three women making their way towards the DJ booth. “There they are, come on.”

Beca walked towards them, Amy and Emily in tow. She tried to maintain her badass DJ demeanor, but as soon as she was met with Chloe’s killer smile, she couldn’t help but grin herself. “Hey, Chloe, you made it!”

“Hi! This place is great!” Chloe seemed to be vibrating with energy as she looked out through the club.

“Yeah, it’s one of my favorite places to spin.” They stared at each other for a moment, grinning, until they were interrupted by a loud cough from Amy. “Oh,” Beca said, suddenly remembering that there were other people around. “Uh, this is my manager, Amy,” She gestured to the blonde, who wiggled her fingers in greeting, “And my friend Emily. We work on music together.” Emily bounded forward with a smile and shook Chloe’s hand eagerly. “Uh, guys… this is Chloe, Aubrey, and Stacie. They’re from a coffee shop near where I live.”

Aubrey scoffed. “You mean you have a home other than our café?”

Chloe shot her a look, but Beca just rolled her eyes. “Uh, you guys should get some drinks, or whatever. You’re welcome to come back and forth between the VIP area and the main dance floor.” She gestured to the row of couches near them, reserved for so-called “VIPs” which, tonight, meant all of Beca’s friends. “I need to start, though.”

“Awesome, thanks for inviting us, Beca!” The DJ was surprised as Chloe stepped forward and wrapped Beca in a tight hug. She stiffened, unsure of how to respond to the action. Beca didn’t really _do_ hugs, but she also could feel heat rise up her neck as her brain registered that Chloe was _touching_ her. Before she could react further, though, Chloe stepped back. “Go ahead, we’ll talk later!”

Beca nodded, unsure if she would be able to speak without completely embarrassing herself. She gave Chloe a small smile and then turned away to her booth. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to center herself and get ready to perform. It would be fine, she knew, as she watched Chloe descend the stairs with the four other girls following behind. Beca was good at what she did – this was her place, she was in her element. No pretty redhead would throw her off tonight.

And with that, she leaned into her microphone and greeted a cheering crowd.

* * *

 

It was the best night she had had in a _long_ time, Chloe thought as she twirled the straw in her cocktail and laughed at another bizarre story that Amy was telling. They had been drinking and dancing for a while, enjoying Beca’s irresistible mixes. Now, though, they had retired to the VIP area, sipping drinks and chatting together as Beca continued with her set.

Every once in a while, during a song that didn’t need Beca’s attention, she would come join them, sitting beside Chloe for a few moments and giving her one of those soft smiles that made Chloe’s heart pound. She didn’t talk much – her visits with them were brief, anyway – but every time she joined the group Chloe felt much more complete, a warmth settling in her stomach as she looked at the DJ beside her.

Not that watching Beca doing her thing wasn’t just as captivating, because it totally was. Beca was a beast at the turntables – that same confidence Chloe had observed back at the first club was present again as Beca spoke to the throng of people on the dance floor and expertly weaved one song into the next. It was _hot,_ Chloe thought, as she watched Beca press a headphone to one ear and turn a few dials on her mixing board, gently moving to the music she was producing.

But as much as she was enjoying herself, Chloe wasn’t entirely sure that drooling over Beca all night was a brilliant way to start off their _friendship._ Because every time she looked at the tiny brunette, her feelings were anything but friendly. Especially when Amy was shoving new drinks in her face every time she emptied a glass. How was she expected to keep a straight head like this?   
She pried her eyes away from Beca, trying instead to focus on what Emily was saying. Chloe liked Beca’s friends – sure, Amy was a little… exuberant, but Emily was a sweetheart and they were both easy to talk to. Aubrey and Stacie seemed to be having a good time too, Chloe thought. They were currently huddled very close together on the couch, which Chloe thought was a little odd – but they had all had a lot to drink, so she didn’t give it much attention.

Emily’s story was cut short as Beca’s voice came on the microphone again and all of them turned to listen to her.

“Hey everybody, how we doing?” The swarm of people on the dance floor cheered, pumping their fists and raising their drinks to Beca. “Very nice. I’ve got a brand new mix for you next,” this was met with more cheers from the crowd, “and this one goes out to my friends at Holy Grounds Café! Best coffee in town, folks. Check them out when you’re hungover tomorrow.” Beca smirked as she released the microphone and started flipping dials on the mixing board.

Chloe, on the other hand, was having a hard time keeping her shit together. Beca had just dedicated a song to them, which was maybe the single coolest thing that had ever happened to the staff of Holy Grounds. Beca finally looked toward them, meeting Chloe’s eyes with a smile as she started the song.

Any semblance of sanity that Chloe still had vanished as soon as she realized what Beca was playing – a mashup of two Taylor Swift songs: “New Romantics” and “Holy Ground,” the very song that her coffee shop was named after.

Chloe could vaguely hear Aubrey and Stacie cheering beside her, but she didn’t give them any notice as she bounded off the couch and over to Beca. The DJ turned to her, meeting Chloe’s huge smile with a bashful grin of her own.

“Beca! Are you kidding me?” Chloe yelled, the alcohol in her system making her forget about the DJ’s boundaries as she grabbed Beca by the hands and pulled her in close.

Beca’s face was bright red as she looked up into Chloe’s eyes. “Uh… too cheesy?”

“No!” Chloe lightly swatted Beca on the arm. “This is the best thing I’ve ever heard! You made this for us?”

“Uh, yeah.” Beca looked embarrassed as she smiled at Chloe.

“I love it! Dance with me!” Chloe led Beca by the hands, twirling her around in the small area by the DJ booth. Beca stumbled a bit – she had had a drink or two, but was mostly sober in order to do her job. Thus, she wasn’t quite prepared to match Chloe’s tipsy dancing.

Chloe started belting along to the chorus of Holy Ground – she couldn’t help it, she _loved_ this song. Beca was staring at her with wide eyes, but Chloe just smiled wider and pulled Beca just a little closer. As the song wound down, Beca broke away from Chloe, gesturing back to the booth.

“I’m glad you liked it.” Beca said shyly, not meeting Chloe’s eyes.

“Beca! I totally loved it!” She reached forward once again, planting a kiss on Beca’s cheek before pulling away and heading back to her friends with a massive grin on her face. When she settled back on the couch with the others, she looked back to Beca, who was staring at Chloe with a dumbstruck expression.

_Friends my ass._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finally started to map out where this is going to go, since it seems like there's a few of you invested in the story now. I haven't written fanfic in years (or really anything other than music and term papers), so I'm hoping my writing chops are still up to the task of finishing this. 
> 
> All feedback is very much appreciated, thanks for all your comments so far! Also, come hit me up on tumblr @crazypitches and be my friend. Thanks for reading!


	5. Wildest Dreams

Beca swatted at her bedside table, blindly trying to silence the clanging melody of the iPhone marimba ringtone as it pierced through her consciousness. She _hated_ that stupid noise –the arpeggios that repeated over and over until she finally could pull herself together long enough to shut off her alarm. Which she finally did, her frustration vocalized in a huff as she tapped on the screen to make the racket stop. As she rolled over to her other side, pulling the blankets tight across her chest, Beca vaguely remembered that she had changed her alarm tone recently – it shouldn’t have been playing that song. And did she even set an alarm last night?

She didn’t have to wonder long, as her phone almost immediately started buzzing and playing that infuriating marimba melody once more. Beca twisted in her bed, throwing off her sheets in irritation and grabbing the phone. This time, instead of blindly swiping at the thing until it left her alone, Beca actually made the effort to focus her eyes on the screen.

The first thing she noticed was that it was eight o’clock on Monday morning. In other words, way too early for Beca. The second thing she took in was that her alarm wasn’t going off – she was getting a phone call.

“Amy, why the _hell_ are you calling me.” Beca spat into the phone, too annoyed for a simple “hello” as she fell back onto her pillow and glared at the ceiling. “I was _sleeping._ ”

“Well, excuse me, princess. I just thought you’d want to hear some brilliant news.”

Beca frowned. “It better be really fucking brilliant if you’re waking me up for it.”

She heard Amy chuckle on the other end. _Get on with it,_ Beca thought, rolling her eyes. “I just got off the phone with a really handsome man…”

“Amy…” Beca warned, squeezing her eyes shut.

“…from Wooly Records.”

Beca’s eyes blinked open and she sat up in bed, suddenly very awake. Wooly Records was a relatively young studio in LA that had recently started climbing to fame, becoming home to many talented producers who collaborated with some of the industry’s top artists. They were one of the studios that Beca had sent a demo too, though she didn’t think they would even listen to it. “Amy,” Beca said, her voice uncharacteristically urgent, “What are you saying?”

“Remember when I told you that it was a done deal?” Beca didn’t respond, waiting instead for Amy to just get to the point already. “Well… now it _actually_ is.”

“What?” Beca felt her heart begin to race inside her chest, her insides twisting in a combination of excitement and anxiety as she stood up and began pacing around the room.

“They loved the demo.” The smile on Beca’s face was so wide, her cheeks felt a little sore. “They loved it so much, they want to send it out as a single. To like, radio stations.”

“Are you _kidding?”_ Emily and Beca’s song had been meant as a gateway to larger career opportunities for both of them – neither had actually imagined that the song itself would see the light of day outside of their little demo. “They want to put it on the air?”

“Sure do. Jackson – that’s the head dude at Wooly – he said he’s gonna send it to a few local stations and see how it’s received, and they can go from there.”

“Holy shit.” Beca breathed, “That’s amazing.”

“Hold on to your pants, Mitch, there’s more.” Amy paused for what must’ve been dramatic effect and Beca had the desire to crawl through the phone lines and strangle her manager into spilling all the details as quickly as possible.

“Well, what is it?”

“They’re signing you.” Beca felt all the breath leave her lungs in an instant. Before she form a reaction, Amy continued. “Well, no, that’s not accurate – they’re signing Emily.”

“Uh…”

“…and they’re giving you a job, shortstack!” Amy let out a whoop of celebration, and Beca fell backwards on to her bed, grinning like an idiot.

“A job?”

“Yeah, they want you on as a junior producer or whatever. And you’re gonna handle Em – they’re signing her to you.”

“Holy – Holy shit.” Beca took a long breath. “They’re giving me a job.”

“Sure are. You’re about to be a rockstar.”

Beca brought a fist to her mouth, holding back the giddiness that was bubbling over her. A _job._ At a successful production studio. A job that would have her working with artists (and Emily!) and performing in _real_ gigs and making _real_ music.

Is this what it felt like to achieve your dreams?

“Amy,” Beca said, her voice somewhat shaky. Normally she would be bothered by that but at this moment, nothing could faze her. “Amy, _thank you._ ”

“Don’t mention it, twiggy. You know I’m in it for the celebrity, after all.”

“Right, well, still. Thanks.”

“You can pay me back by including me in all the red carpet events of your future.”

“As if that was never the plan in the first place.”

“You’re damn right.” Beca grinned, feeling truly grateful for her friend, who had taken on the job of managing Beca’s career even though Beca certainly didn’t pay her well. If she could work her way to an established career – if she ever _did_ end up on the red carpet – Beca would be sure to repay Amy in full for everything she had done. “I’ll email you the details and get you in touch with Jackson,” Amy said, “But careful – I’ve got my eye on him. Don’t touch.”

“I’m not going to try to get with my boss, Amy.”

“Oh, right, you’ve got that redhead, anyway.” Beca rolled her eyes, deciding a lack of response was the best way to handle that comment. Amy didn’t seem to care. “You start your job next week.”

“I can’t believe it. This is awesome.”

“Worth waking you up for?”

Beca grinned. “Yeah, I guess so. Thanks, Amy.”

Amy said goodbye and then Beca ended the call, tossing her phone onto the bed and looking up to the ceiling with an impossibly wide smile. She snuggled back into her blankets, wrapping herself tight and grinning against her pillow. Beca was outrageously happy – here, in the quiet of her bedroom and the safety of her blankets, she didn’t have to hide it. Beca may be bad at expressing her emotions to others, but that didn’t mean they weren’t still there.

She took long breaths, closing her eyes and replaying the conversation with Amy in her head over and over again. Beca had been at it for years – first getting a degree in music at college (more to appease her father than anything), spending late nights in the dorm rooms teaching herself how to use ProTools and Ableton, how to make computers make music. From there she had moved into the dog-eat-dog world of music business, making her living by spinning at clubs and occasionally working at radio stations, but always, always hoping for something more.

Ever since she was a child, Beca had had daydreams of sitting behind a soundboard and smiling at the world’s newest popstar, working together to create basslines and melodies that would enchant the world. She wanted to put her own music out there and to help others express themselves through beats and rhymes. It was what she lived for, and she always hoped that one day it could be her whole life.

Now, after all this time, here was her chance. And to have hers and Emily’s song play on the radio? Beca doubted that much would come of that – probably the stations would introduce it and then never play it again – but the thought of _her_ music on a _real_ radio station this early in her production career was mind-numbing to Beca. How did she get so lucky?

Beca wasn’t sure how long she had been in bed, cuddling her pillow and fantasizing about what her new job would entail. When her stomach began to rumble, however, and she felt the familiar pound in her head that begged for caffeine, Beca figured she should probably move.

She picked her phone back up. It was 10:30, and Beca had an email from Amy that, as her manager had promised, gave her a full job description and working hours, as well as put her in contact with her new boss. Scanning over the details, Beca’s stomach twisted into an anxious knot. She hadn’t worked a nine-to-five job in years, which would be a challenge, but mostly Beca felt somewhat sick as she realized that she would need to prove herself to a bunch of music execs. The anxiety didn’t come close to overpowering the excited thud of her heart, though, as Beca grabbed her laptop bag and exited the apartment with her head held high. She was going to take the music industry by storm.

A few minutes later, Beca passed through the doors of Holy Grounds with much more enthusiasm than perhaps ever before. In addition to the amazing news of the morning, Beca had to admit she was happy to be in the café and see Chloe. Since Beca’s set three days ago at the club, she had thought about the barista a lot. There was something about Chloe that made Beca feel comfortable, and that was not a feeling she had with hardly anyone, especially anyone she hadn’t known for several years. Chloe was able to draw Beca in, despite the DJ’s general fear of social interaction, and Beca thought that maybe she and Chloe _would_ be good friends.

The two had texted quite a bit over the weekend. Beca wasn’t normally one for texting often – too tedious for her – but talking with the redhead over iMessage was actually quite entertaining. Chloe had a knack for using emojis that only _kind of_ related to whatever she was saying, and Beca would find herself rolling her eyes with an amused smile as Chloe described a TV show and then accompanied the description with a devil face, winky face, _and_ a TV emoji. Beca wasn’t sure how, but Chloe was able to translate her personality perfectly over text messaging. And Beca was beginning to realize that she couldn’t quite resist Chloe’s personality.

So yes, Beca had developed a fondness for the barista in record time. Perhaps that’s why she could barely contain her smile as she walked up to the café counter, eager to tell Chloe her news.

It was Aubrey who greeted her, though. Beca felt a prickle of irritation as the blonde leveled her with a sharp gaze and a professional smile that was far from sincere. “Hello, Beca.”

Beca nodded to the barista. “How’s it going, Aubrey?”

“I’m well.” Aubrey regarded her for a moment, seemingly working something over in her head. “I enjoyed your set on Friday.”

Beca raised an eyebrow in surprise. A compliment? From Aubrey? The world must be going insane today. “Uh, thanks. I’m glad you liked it.”

Aubrey gave a sharp nod. “So, large black coffee?”

She really shouldn’t be surprised that the whole café knew what she took by now, Beca supposed. “Yeah. And, uh… can I get a muffin, too?”

“A muffin?” Beca’s eyes snapped to the door behind the counter as a cheery redhead passed through it, a coffee mug in her hand. Chloe grinned at Beca, deep blue eyes sparkling. “You _never_ buy pastries. What are we celebrating?”

Beca brought her lower lip between her teeth, trying to hold back a smile. “Well… I, uh, got a job with a studio. And I’m gonna produce music with Emily. Like, for real.” Beca trailed off awkwardly, watching as Chloe’s eyes grew wider and wider, her jaw opening as she took in Beca’s words.

“Oh my god, Beca!” Chloe squealed at a pitch that Beca hadn’t realized humans could reach, and then was suddenly darting around the counter and wrapping Beca in a tight hug. She was a little more prepared for the embrace this time, but still just as awkward; she forced herself to remain relaxed, and tried to return the hug by awkwardly placing her hands on Chloe’s back, unsure of her movements. Chloe didn’t seem to notice, though, making excited squeaks and squeezing the air out of Beca. After a moment she pulled back, holding Beca at arm’s length. “Beca, I’m _so_ excited for you!” She glanced over at Aubrey, who was watching them with a raised eyebrow. “Bree, get us some pastries! All the good stuff! I’m going to take a break and you—“ She poked Beca in the shoulder, grinning, “are going to tell me all about this new job.”

Beca rolled her eyes and pulled away from Chloe, though the corner of her mouth was turned up in a slight grin. “Sure you don’t have to work? I don’t want to keep you…”

“It’s fine. I can spare some time.” She looked back at Aubrey, meeting the blonde’s glare with a dazzling smile. “Right, Bree?”

Aubrey looked between Beca and Chloe for a long moment, and then sighed. “I know it won’t matter _what_ I think.” She pushed a plate across the counter and set a large mug next to it. “Here’s your food.”

“Thanks!” Chloe gushed, handing Beca her coffee and picking up the plate (which held two muffins, a scone, and a bear claw – definitely more pastries than Beca _ever_ needed in her life) and pulling Beca by the elbow to the table in the corner. “So, Beca! Congratulations!” Chloe’s smile was blinding, it took a moment for Beca’s eyes to focus under direct exposure to it.

“Uh, thanks.” Beca gave a soft smile.

“So, tell me all about it!” Chloe grabbed the blueberry muffin and split it in half, handing one piece to Beca and starting in on the other herself. Beca took a small bite of the pastry – and wow, why hadn’t she bought pastries here before? They were really good – before answering.

“Well, it’s with this place called Wooly Records. They’re kinda new, I guess? But they’re good. Like, really good.” Chloe’s nodded excitedly, her blue eyes wide and never leaving Beca’s. “Uh, yeah. They offered me a job as a junior producer, so I’ll get to work under their producers and eventually start working with artists myself. You know, helping singers make songs. And that kind of thing.”

“Ah, Becs, that’s _so_ cool.”  Chloe reached out and placed her hand on Beca’s wrist. Beca glanced down for a moment but didn’t pull away – the contact didn’t feel as uncomfortable as it should have. “And Emily?”

“Oh, yeah. They’re signing her to the label. Well, us. I guess.”

Chloe’s grin was huge. “So… I don’t know what that means.”

Beca let out a nervous chuckle, tucking her hair behind her ear with the hand that wasn’t currently being kind-of-held by Chloe. “Yeah, well they want Emily and me to do an album. Like, she’ll be my first collaboration… solo project. Which is nice since we’ve been collaborating for a while anyway.”

“You get to make a whole _album?_ That’s so exciting!” Beca could feel heat begin to rise up her neck. Chloe was so enthusiastic about the whole business. It wasn’t too surprising, Beca supposed, since Chloe was generally very bubbly and enthusiastic, but it kind of made Beca’s insides feel like mush to know that this girl – her _friend ­_ – cared so much about Beca’s success.

“Yeah, it’ll be really fun. And they’re releasing our demo as a single.”

“Really?” Chloe’s hand moved from Beca’s wrist to capture her fingers, weaving them together on the table. Beca tensed a bit, but relaxed into the position and hoped that her hand wasn’t sweaty.

“Yeah, they’re gonna send it to some radio stations. I don’t think anything will really happen with that, but still.” Beca shrugged.

Chloe gave an exaggerated eye roll and squeezed Beca’s hand just slightly. “Oh _please._ Your song is going to be all over the radio, I know it.”

Beca’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “You haven’t even heard it.”

“Yeah, and whose fault is that?” An eyebrow raised in challenge as Chloe popped part of the bear claw into her mouth. “I obviously want to hear it.” She said through a full mouth.

Beca smirked, grabbing some pastry for herself. She spoke before inhaling it, unlike the barista seated across from her. “I can send it to you.”   
“Really?” Chloe’s whole face lit up, like Beca had just announced that Christmas was coming early this year.

“Uh, yeah? It’s no big deal.”

“Well you should’ve sent it to me like, a _year_ ago if it’s no big deal!”   
“I didn’t know you a year ago…”

Chloe grinned. “Yeah, isn’t that unfortunate?” Beca raised her eyebrows, unsure of how to respond to that. “Well,” Chloe filled the silence, “Guess we’ll just have to make up for lost time.” She winked, in that weird flirtatious way that made Beca’s insides squirm and her cheeks heat because she had _no_ clue how a person was supposed to react to a wink. Like, who winks? It’s such an unnatural gesture, but Chloe keeps doing it like it’s the most normal thing between two friends. Beca simply rolled her eyes, the best defense in the face of social awkwardness. Chloe didn’t seem to care, though, and simply grinned wider. “When do you start?”

“Next Monday.”   
“It’s gonna be weird not having you here all the time.” Chloe’s voice took on a different tone – she sounded almost a little sad as she looked at Beca with those deep blue eyes.

“Yeah, I’m gonna miss it. You know, the free coffee.” Beca smirked. “And Aubrey, mostly.”

Chloe giggled and let go of Beca’s hand, whacking her gently on the arm. “Whatever, meanie.” She folded her hands into her lap and Beca felt a fleeting sense of loss as her hand sat empty on the table.

“Meanie? Are you five?” Chloe stuck out her lower lip and furrowed her brow in a massive pout, proving Beca’s suspicions that yes, Chloe Beale was a five-year-old masquerading as an adult. Beca chuckled, leaning back in her chair and smiling. She seemed to be doing a lot of smiling around Chloe lately. Weird.

“Stop being so mean, or I’m going to take back my invitation.”

“Invitation?” Beca raised an eyebrow, feeling as though she had missed something.

“Yes. I’m inviting you to dinner tomorrow night.” Chloe smiled brilliantly, the skin around her eyes crinkling just slightly as her whole face lit up with the action.

“Uh, dinner?”

“To celebrate! It’s your big break, we have to celebrate. You can come to my place; I’ll make dinner and we’ll drink lots of wine.”

Though the invitation made Beca feel slightly uneasy (going to a person’s apartment one-on-one was a pretty big social commitment, Beca wasn’t sure she was quite at that level) she couldn’t help but melt just a bit under Chloe’s eager gaze. Why was the barista so damn adorable? She was like a puppy – you just couldn’t disappoint her, or the whole universe would hate you forever.

“You don’t have to cook me dinner.” Beca said, though she knew that would be a useless objection.

“Of course I do! It’s not every day one of your friends jumps on the fast-track to being a rock star.”

“I don’t think that’s quite what this job is…”

“Whatever. I really want to celebrate with you!” Chloe paused, her grin dimming and shoulders slumping just slightly. “That is, if you want. No pressure, of course, you can just say no…”

“I’d love to, Chloe.” Beca found herself cutting off Chloe’s rambling with a raised hand and a smile. The barista perked back up, looking at Beca with hopeful eyes. “Yeah, it would be really nice.” Beca was a little surprised at herself, honestly, but she also felt the anxiety in her stomach settle a bit as she looked at Chloe, who was currently squealing in excitement.

“I’ll text you details. Tomorrow night?” Beca nodded. “Yay, Beca! I’m so proud of you.” She rose from her chair, then, glancing back at that shop. Beca noticed for the first time that it was starting to fill with customers – a line was forming at the counter. Lunchtime rush, probably, and Chloe would need to get back. But not before opening her arms to Beca with a smile. “Come here!”

Beca rose to her feet, feeling awkward as she moved into Chloe’s hug. She wrapped her arms around the redhead, though, and couldn’t help but smile softly as she felt Chloe’s cheek rest against her head. It was nice, Beca thought, being held like this; human contact was not something Beca had much of when she wasn’t in a relationship. Chloe was much more touchy than any of her other friends were, at least with Beca. As Chloe gave her a last squeeze and then backed away, Beca thought that maybe having human contact with friends wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

“Sorry, I gotta go help out before we get overrun.” Chloe smiled apologetically. “But I’ll text you, like I said. Enjoy your coffee, let me know if you need anything!” Beca grinned and shooed Chloe away, smiling after the redhead fondly as she bounded back to the café counter.

Beca settled back into her chair and pulled out her laptop, trying her damnedest to ignore the pounding feeling in her chest.

* * *

Chloe was bustling about her apartment at top speed, dancing along the way to _1989_ blasting through her laptop speakers on the counter. She was behind schedule, she knew that much – but she didn’t _really_ think Beca would care if dinner was still cooking when she arrived. At least, Chloe hoped not.

If she slowed down to think about it for a moment, Chloe would have to admit that she was a bit nervous about the impending arrival of her guest. Of course, she shouldn’t be; they were _just friends_ and their friendship had been coming along quite nicely, in fact. And tonight wasn’t even about that, anyway – it was about Beca and her crazy awesome new job. Which Chloe was immensely excited about. Sure, she hadn’t been following Beca’s career for very long, but she still felt proud of the DJ and she couldn’t wait to see what the future held.

Which is why, as she skittered around the kitchen, Chloe was determined to make the single greatest celebratory meal that any human had ever consumed. Well, within Chloe’s own culinary limits. She was creating a beautiful (and blessedly easy) concoction of bacon-wrapped, cheese-covered chicken breasts, with rice and grilled asparagus on the side. It was a more complicated meal than she usually would bother to make, but she still worried it wouldn’t be fancy enough for LA’s newest music mogul.

But Beca wasn’t the type of person to be snooty about food, Chloe thought as she popped the chicken back into the oven and set the timer for fifteen minutes. She leaned back, the heels of her palms pressing into the edge of the countertop, and let out a long breath. The food would be ready soon, Chloe looked somewhat presentable in her loose-fitting button down shirt and jeans, and Beca would roll her eyes at the Taylor Swift playing in the kitchen but would not be surprised at the musical selection. Things seemed to be in order.

 _Except for your head, Chlo._ Chloe ran a hand through her red curls, brow furrowed in irritation. _This isn’t a date. Stop psyching yourself up._ She was tired of constantly chanting “friends friends friends” in her head every time she interacted with Beca – it was time to let the butterflies fly out of her stomach and away from her life if she wanted to have a friendship with the DJ. Chloe Beale was _not_ the type to pine after an unrequited love.

And yet, she still leapt into the air at the knock on her door. “Pull it together, Beale.” She muttered, crossing the living room and swinging the door open with a smile. “Hi, Beca!”

Chloe immediately thought that Beca looked nervous. The DJ was standing with one hand in her pocket, the other holding a bottle of red wine. Her feet were scuffing the ground and she had one lip pulled between her teeth in that adorable way she does when she doesn’t know what to say or is holding back a smile. Chloe figured that both things might be true just then.

“Hey, Chlo.” Chloe tried not to notice the swell in her chest as Beca shortened her name. She stepped out of the doorway, gesturing for Beca to enter. “Thanks for having me.”

“Of course! You didn’t have to bring wine.”

“Isn’t it like… etiquette? To not show up at a friend’s house empty-handed?” Beca held out the wine bottle awkwardly, and Chloe grabbed with a chuckle, placing it on the counter and getting a bottle opener out of the drawer.

“Who needs etiquette? Thanks, though – this looks great.” Chloe started warring with the stubborn corkscrew, pulling with all her strength to get the cork to come loose.

“Well, I actually don’t know the first thing about wine.” Beca leaned against the counter and cleared her throat. “It… it has a cool label. That’s kinda why I bought that one.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow and paused her corkscrew battle, tipping back the bottle to give the label proper inspection. Emblazoned on the bottle was a large grizzly bear who was, naturally, breathing fire. Chloe let out a breath of a laugh and looked up at Beca, whose cheeks were adorably pink as she watched Chloe. “This _is_ a badass label. You’ve got good taste, Mitchell.”

Beca grinned at her – one of those tiny grins that Chloe really enjoyed. They weren’t as soul-stopping as Beca’s full on smile; they were the grins Beca wore when she was content with a situation. Happy enough that she couldn’t keep the standard scowl in place, but not so overtaken with a moment that a full smile would slip through. When Beca grinned like that, it seemed like she was simply comfortable. Chloe liked that.

She finally pulled the cork out of the bottle with a pop, and Beca gave a little chuckle at her struggle. “Watch it, Becs, or I’m not sharing.”

“Hey,” Beca said, already reaching for one of the wine glasses on the counter, “I thought we were celebrating _me_ in the first place.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, though the bright smile never left her face. “Well with an ego like yours, I don’t think you need _me_ to celebrate.” She winked at Beca in order to convey that she was just teasing (she thought Beca probably knew, but she didn’t want to cross any lines that she was unaware of in their early friendship) and poured a generous amount of wine into each of their glasses. Raising her glass, Chloe grinned at Beca, taking in the intensity in her dark blue eyes and the perfect way that her hair fell around her face. “To LA’s newest celebrity!”

Beca rolled her eyes, but there was that smile – the big one, the one that made Chloe’s chest clench up in the worst and best of ways. They clinked glasses and took long sips of wine, Chloe desperately trying to tame the feelings that were bubbling inside of her. She turned to the oven, then, just before the timer went off.

“Food?” Beca said, sliding up onto a stool and resting her elbows on the counter as Chloe moved about the kitchen.

“Sure is!” Chloe described the meal to Beca, who at least seemed eager to try Chloe’s cooking. She dished up two plates and slid one over to Beca. “I thought we could watch a movie? Aubrey kind of hates it when I eat on the couch, but I kind of don’t care.”

Beca’s eyes went wide. “You live with Aubrey?”

Chloe grinned, sensing the other woman’s slight distress at this tidbit of information. “Of course I do. But don’t worry, she’s closing the café tonight, won’t be home til late.” Chloe grabbed her plate and wine glass and passed Beca, heading into the living room. “So, movie?”

“Uh…” Beca followed, her own food in hand. “I kind of hate movies.”

Chloe blinked. “Really?” Beca shrugged, biting her lip. “Okay!” Chloe plopped down on the couch, securing her wine glass on the coffee table and spearing a piece of asparagus with her fork. Beca slowly joined her, a somewhat confused look on her face. “What?”

“Oh. Nothing, I guess.” Beca scooped up some rice. “Just, people usually give me a lot of shit for not liking movies.”

Chloe frowned. “Why?”

“Don’t know. People tell me it’s impossible to not like them.”

“Well, clearly it’s possible, since you don’t. Who cares?” Chloe shoved some food into her mouth and continued talking. “We can do something else.” Beca grinned, her gaze soft as she watched Chloe eat. “How do you feel about reality television?”

“I don’t watch it often.” Beca said thoughtfully, “But honestly? It’s ridiculously entertaining.” Chloe’s face lit up at this admission and she immediately grabbed for the remote. “But if you tell anyone I said that, I’ll have to kill you.”

Chloe laughed. “Don’t worry, DJ Badass, your reputation is safe in my hands.”

“Thanks, dear.” Beca’s tone was dry, but she was grinning in that adorable way. She had been particularly smiley since arriving at Chloe’s apartment – the redhead felt her insides warm at that thought. Beca swallowed a piece of the chicken and let out a little hum of satisfaction. “This food is seriously good, Chlo.”

“Thanks! I’m glad you like it!” Chloe flipped through the channels, finally settling on a rerun of _Keeping Up with the Kardashians._

They fell into a nice rhythm, poking fun at the drama onscreen and holding comfortable conversation during commercial breaks. Beca talked about her hopes for the new job and about some of her musical influences, and Chloe hung on every word, enthralled by the way Beca spoke with such passion and how music seemed to just flow out of her at all times. Beca asked about Chloe, too – they talked about what it was like owning a business and how even though Aubrey was crazy demanding, she was really the best friend Chloe could ever ask for.

They talked about their families, Beca briefly mentioning that her parents had gotten a divorce when she was young, and then focusing the narrative on her mother and how she loved to take Beca to plays and concerts. Chloe described what it was like growing up in the south and having four older brothers, how she loved her family more than anything and was heartbroken that she didn’t see them more often. They talked about their college years, how Beca had begrudgingly attended school at her father’s behest and then promptly moved to LA. Beca had nagged Chloe for details about her acapella group, which Chloe was all too glad to gush about.

They talked and talked, each soaking in the other’s life story with rapt attention. Beca’s eyes never left Chloe when she was speaking – the stormy blue of her gaze focused on Chloe like she was the only thing in the world. Chloe felt herself getting lightheaded at the feeling.

They went through several glasses of wine and several episodes of trashy television, laughing together as crisis after crisis unfolded on the screen. At one point, while a particularly nasty catfight was playing out on the show, Chloe glanced over to Beca, taking in the other girl’s presence on her couch. Chloe was surprised by how carefree Beca seemed – the closed-off woman who was at her coffee shop every day, awkwardly fumbling through her interactions with Chloe, was replaced by this smiley Beca who was wrapped up in reality TV. She was still the same person – that dry sarcasm and biting wit were _definitely_ still there – but Beca was relaxed, with a sense of freedom that Chloe hadn’t ever seen.

Except, she thought, when Beca was spinning in the club. Beca had always seemed to be in her element then – like nothing in the world could touch her and all that existed was the music. It was kind of like that now, Chloe thought, but Beca wasn’t engrossed in music – she was just existing here, with Chloe. And Beca seemed really at peace with that.

Chloe tried her best to ignore the thudding in her heart as Beca made eye contact with her, a soft smile stretching across her lips.

Chloe’s not sure when it happened – somewhere between the third and fourth glass of wine, she thought – but she was now curled up into Beca’s side, her head resting on Beca’s shoulder. Beca’s arm was surrounding her, fingers occasionally brushing up and down her arm as they continued to talk and watch TV.

It felt perfect. Chloe couldn’t even take the time to feel guilty or anxious about the way their bodies were pressed together – it was just too comfortable. Like she was meant to be tucked into Beca, and they both were completely content with it. Neither mentioned the fact that they were essentially cuddling on the couch; they continued the night as before, just… closer.

But all things must end, Chloe supposed. At least, that’s what bitterly ran through her mind as the front door opened and Beca practically leapt away from her.

“Chloe, you won’t believe—“ Aubrey stopped after taking a few steps into the apartment, noticing that Chloe was not alone. She raised one eyebrow at Chloe and then looked pointedly at Beca.

It’s not like Chloe hadn’t mentioned that Beca would be over for dinner – she had actually gotten quite an earful from Aubrey about Beca’s intentions and that Chloe needed to be careful lest she get her heart broken by the snarky little DJ. Aubrey probably hadn’t expected Beca to _still_ be at their apartment several hours later, though.

“Beca.” Aubrey said, nodding curtly. “Congratulations on the new job.”

“Uh, thanks, Aubrey.” Beca said, standing from the couch awkwardly. Chloe pursed her lips together, disappointed. The relaxed, comfortable Beca that had been laughing with her moments before was nowhere to be seen, hidden once again by the DJ’s sarcastic smirk.

Aubrey, of course, had no idea that anything had changed. She hummed, placing her bag on the counter and making her way into the kitchen. “Yes, maybe you can start paying for your coffee, now.”

“Aubrey.” Chloe warned, casting a dark look at her friend.

“It’s fine, Chloe.” Beca said, rolling her eyes. “But, ahh…” She shuffled her feet, looking around the apartment and refusing to make eye contact with Chloe. “Guess I should get going, huh?”

“Uh,” Chloe didn’t want Beca to go – she wanted to rewind to five minutes ago when they were snuggled on the couch together and everything felt perfect – but it _was_ late and Aubrey was here and Beca was probably dying to escape. So Chloe simply smiled. “Don’t worry about the dishes, I’ll take care of them.”

“You sure?” At Chloe’s nod, Beca gave her a small smile.

“You okay to get home? You didn’t drive, did you?” Beca certainly wasn’t drunk, but Chloe was always a stickler for safety and there was no way she would let a slightly tipsy Beca drive herself home.

“No, I don’t live far. I’ll be fine.” Beca walked to the door and turned to look at Chloe. “Thanks, for dinner. And for just… I don’t know.” She ran a hand through her hair, sucking one lip in between her teeth. “I had a nice night.”

Chloe beamed, her deep blue eyes trying to memorize every inch of Beca’s adorably unsure face. “I did too, Becs. Thanks for coming over.”

“Yeah. Uh… let’s do it again.”

Chloe wasn’t sure her heart could feel any more full than it did in that moment. “Yeah, definitely.”   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the continued support for this work! Your comments make my day. :) Come hit me up on tumblr @crazypitches!


	6. I Never Saw You Coming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay in updating -- this chapter was just not working out for me. Hopefully that doesn't show too much in the final product.

Holy Grounds had been uncharacteristically busy for a Wednesday evening, and Chloe was ready to collapse on the espresso machine and fall into a sleep that no amount of caffeine could fix. It didn’t help that Stacie had called in sick that day and Aubrey had left early to take care of her. Which Chloe found somewhat odd, but she knew how Aubrey could be: ever the control freak, eager to fix everyone’s problems. Especially when those problems interfered with the success of her coffee shop.

Aubrey had actually been much more relaxed, lately, with regards to the café – up until the last week, Aubrey had insisted that either she or Chloe were at the café at all times. She didn’t trust anyone else to take care of her business. After much convincing from both Chloe and Stacie, however, Aubrey had agreed to scale down Chloe and Aubrey’s shifts and give Stacie a managerial position. It was a better system, for sure; Stacie got a slight pay increase, and the co-owners of the shop could breathe a little easier. Well, Chloe could, at least. Aubrey didn’t really _ever_ breathe easy.

So Chloe wasn’t too surprised that the blonde had ditched her to take care of Stacie, but Chloe was still a little peeved about it as she struggled to hold down the fort with Lilly, another barista. She loved her customers, but sometimes the constant flow of people – in addition to all the behind-the-scenes work she had to take care of to keep the business afloat – was a lot for two people to handle.

And Chloe hadn’t seen or heard from Beca since their evening together two days ago. She would be lying if she said that that had nothing to do with her less-than-chipper mood.

Beca’s absence probably had nothing to do with Chloe. At least, that’s what she kept telling herself. Beca probably was busy trying to prepare for her new job on Monday – it was as huge life change for her, she must not have the time to waste hanging around the coffee shop. _That has to be it,_ Chloe thought, dragging a cleaning rag across the counter with what may have been excessive force. She tried to ignore the nagging worry in her head that insisted that Beca had been scared off after coming to Chloe’s house – that Beca had just been being polite when she said they should do it again, that the cuddling on the couch _had_ made Beca too uncomfortable to even text Chloe since.

She didn’t want those things to be true, because every time she thought about their evening together, about all the things she had learned about Beca and the way Beca’s arm felt wrapped around her shoulders on the couch, Chloe couldn’t quite tame the excited thud in her heart. Being with Beca – just spending time with her – had felt so _right._ And maybe it was ridiculous ( _definitely it was ridiculous,_ Chloe thought), but after two days of radio silence, Chloe missed her little DJ.

So that was probably the real reason why Chloe’s shoulders sagged and her brow furrowed as she turned the lock on the front door of Holy Grounds and started her way down the street, back to her apartment. She was nearly too exhausted to make it home, trudging up the stairs to her door with such heavy footfalls that she briefly considered just sleeping in the foyer for the night. She pressed on, though, and entered her apartment with a long sigh.

“There you are!” Aubrey was sitting on the couch, back straight and proper as she flipped through a magazine in her lap. “Why are you so late?”

Chloe dropped her purse on the floor and sank into the couch beside Aubrey, tipping her head back and closing her eyes. “Place was _crazy_ today.”

Aubrey winced, reaching out to pat Chloe’s arm. “Oh, I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help.”

“Don’t worry about it, Bree.” Chloe opened her eyes and gave her friend a small smile, because how could she stay mad at Aubrey for caring about their employees? Besides, Stacie was their friend. “How’s Stace?”

Aubrey bobbed her head in a nod. “She’s doing better. Food poisoning, I think it was – it was good that I went over, she did not have the appropriate materials to deal with a bout of food poisoning.”

Chloe grit her teeth in distaste. “Ugh, I’m sure cleaning up vomit all day was a lot of fun.”

“It’s fine,” Aubrey shrugged, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. “Stacie needed my help.”

“Well, thanks for taking care of her.” Chloe folded her legs beneath her on the couch and grabbed the remote off the armrest, mindlessly clicking on the television and flipping through the channels to find something suitably mind-numbing after her long day. She was briefly distracted from her chore, however, when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Chloe tossed the remote over to Aubrey, who took it with no comment, and Chloe grabbed her phone.

_Beca Mitchell: Hey sorry I’ve been kinda MIA. Been crazy trying to get ready for the new job_

Chloe’s face lit up in the brightest of grins as she read the message from Beca, but before she could respond with how it was _totally fine_ and she was _so glad_ to hear from Beca, another message came through.

_Beca Mitchell: But I’m playing a final show at Red Door on Friday. Amy and Em are coming, they insisted I invite you and the crew_

The smile on Chloe’s face just grew wider – a phenomenon that she was finding to be quite common when Beca Mitchell was around – as she tapped out her reply.

_Chloe Beale: Hmmm… idk, is the music gonna be any good? ;)_

_Beca Mitchell: Rude._

Chloe giggled, earning a sharp look from Aubrey. “Are you talking to Beca?” Aubrey said, eyeing the phone severely.

“Yes,” Chloe said, rolling her eyes at Aubrey’s displeasure. “She just invited you, me, and Stace to her set on Friday – it’s her last show at the club. Amy and Emily are going to be there, do you want to go?”

Chloe kind of assumed that Aubrey would immediately say no, but was surprised as the blonde gave a thoughtful nod. “I guess we could go.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Her music is a tad… _much_ for my taste, but Stacie thought that Amy was the funniest person in the world, so I’m sure she would want to go.” Aubrey flicked her wrist towards Chloe. “And obviously you do, too.”

“Yeah, awesome! Thanks, Bree.” Chloe gave her friend a dazzling smile of thanks before turning back to her phone.

_Chloe Beale: Just asked Bree. We’ll be there!_

_Beca Mitchell: Cool. Starts at 10._

_Chloe Beale: Can’t wait. <3_

Chloe locked her phone and set it on the couch beside her, trying to tame her wild grin as she turned her attention to the television. Apparently she was unsuccessful in that, though, as Aubrey gave an extremely unsubtle cough and was staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

“What?” Chloe asked, feigning an innocent grin even though she could tell Aubrey was about to go into lecture mode.

Aubrey turned fully, leaning her back against the armrest of the couch and pulling one leg up beneath her. “What’s your deal with Beca?” She had her serious voice on, the _I’m-your-best-friend-and-I-will-kill-a-bitch_ look in her eyes as she waited for Chloe’s answer, folding her hands on top of her knee.

“Beca? We’re friends. You know that.”

“Obviously.” Aubrey gave her a stern look. “But you’re not just friends.”

Chloe took a long breath, not meeting Aubrey’s gaze just yet. This topic had certainly been on her mind a lot in the last few days; Chloe knew that friendship was the only thing between her and Beca, but it would be ridiculous of her not to acknowledge the decidedly not-friendly feelings she had for the DJ. “I don’t know, Bree. There’s nothing between us.”

Aubrey’s face softened slightly at Chloe’s disappointed tone. “But you like her, don’t you?” Chloe just stared at Aubrey for a moment, her big blue eyes wide. “The little twerp may be completely oblivious, but I’ve seen the way you look at her, Chlo.”

Running a hand through her hair, Chloe gave a slight nod. “Yeah.” She blinked hard and looked back at Aubrey. “Yeah, I _really_ like her, Bree.” She let out a breathless chuckle, a smile stretching across her face against her will. “Like – I don’t know. She’s really special. And you _know_ I don’t get hung up on people like this.”

Aubrey reached out and patted Chloe’s knee, a soft look in her eyes. “So what are you going to do about it?”  
At that, Chloe deflated, shoulders slumping. “Nothing.” At a raised eyebrow from Aubrey, she continued, “Beca doesn’t feel that way about me. I – I can tell. We’re _just_ friends.”

“But you’re _not._ You just said so yourself.”

Chloe let out a sigh of frustration. “Just because I have a stupid crush doesn’t mean we can’t just be friends. Like I said, Beca’s special. I’d rather be friends with her than not have her in my life at all.” And that was the truth – just being around Beca, even in a platonic way, made Chloe’s heart feel full. And she kind of thought that Beca might value their friendship just as much. Chloe didn’t want to do anything to risk what they already had.

“Chloe…” Aubrey’s face looked somewhat hesitant, though still strict. “I’m worried about you. I don’t know if that’s the best plan – someone’s gonna end up with their heart broken.” Chloe could catch the unspoken words: _that someone is you._

“That’s just how it’s gonna be, Aubrey.” Chloe nodded resolutely. “And I’m fine with that. Beca’s a good friend; she’s starting to let me into her life. I don’t think she does that with many people.” That was another thing that Chloe had been obsessively considering lately – Beca was outwardly a very closed-off person, and even in her interactions with Amy and Emily, she didn’t seem to put much of herself into the conversation. With Chloe, though, Beca seemed comfortable, present. It gave Chloe a rush like no other, thinking that she might be the cause of that.

“Okay.” Aubrey said softly, turning back to the television. “Just… be careful.”

* * *

Chloe and Beca had texted frequently throughout the week – which always ended up with Chloe grinning stupidly at her phone while receiving judging looks from Aubrey and Stacie – but they hadn’t seen each other since Monday. That’s why, on Friday night, Chloe could hardly contain her excitement at seeing DJ Beca Mitchell at work. She led Aubrey and Stacie through the long line outside of the club (which was brightly advertising their DJ’s final show, making Chloe’s chest swell with pride) and beamed at the bouncer as they all flashed their IDs and made their way inside.  

They weaved through the crowd of people on the dance floor, heading up to the VIP balcony where Beca was set up, Amy and Emily chattering at her side. As they approached, Emily let out a loud squeal of excitement and ran up to greet them.

“Hi, guys!” She said, grinning like a maniac in a way that Chloe found pretty adorable. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

Amy approached as well, but Chloe didn’t pay any attention to the Australian as she sidestepped the group and ran towards Beca, abandoning all self-restraint and pulling the DJ into a tight hug. Beca was awkward at hugs, Chloe had noticed, but she was making more of an attempt this time, wrapping her arms around Chloe and allowing the redhead to swing them gently back in forth in her excitement.

Chloe pulled back, beaming. “Hey!” Her eyes swept over Beca, and she immediately felt a large lump form in her throat. Beca looked _hot._ She was wearing a flannel over a v-neck shirt and skinny jeans, effortlessly casual but still damn cool with her large headphones hanging around her neck.

“Hi, Chlo.” She snapped out of her gawking to meet Beca’s eyes and smirking grin. “Thanks for coming.”

Chloe gave Beca a light punch on the shoulder, scoffing. “Duh. We weren’t about to miss your last show.”

“Well,” Beca said, leaning back on the DJ table, “It’s not my last show like, ever. Just for now. Hopefully bigger, better shows in the future.”

“I don’t know about _better,_ ” Chloe grinned, “because this is already so good.” She gave Beca an exaggerated wink, which received a massive eye roll. Chloe would expect no less.

“Save your flattery, Beale.” A faint tint rose to Beca’s cheeks, despite her nonchalance about the compliment. Chloe bit her lip, holding back a grin. She had missed seeing Beca this week – as ridiculous and maybe co-dependent as that was – and having the DJ in front of her was making her heart beat just a little faster.

Her happiness dimmed just a tad, however, as another figure came bounding up the stairs.

“Becaw!” It was Jesse, of course, who Chloe had mostly forgotten about in the past couple of weeks. Beca clearly hadn’t forgotten him, though, smirking at him as he approached them and gave her a playful shove.

“Uh, Chlo, have you met Jesse? He’s at Holy Grounds a lot.” Beca gestured between them awkwardly, and Chloe sensed a slight change in the tiny brunette’s attitude, how she was carrying herself. Chloe wasn’t sure what it was, but she definitely didn’t like the fact that Jesse’s arrival had provoked such a change in Beca.

 _Take it down a notch, Chloe._ She thought fiercely, _You’ve got no place to be jealous._

“Yeah.” Chloe said with a bright smile. “I’ve seen you around a lot. Nice to finally meet you!”  Jesse’s grinned like an excited puppy as he gave Chloe a nod and then moved over to Beca’s sound board, poking around at the variety of equipment she had there.

“Dude, don’t touch that shit!” Beca rushed over to him, pulling him back from the booth. “Just… let’s go join the others.” Jesse laughed at Beca’s grumbling as she grabbed his wrist and led him over to the rest of their friends. Chloe followed behind, her stomach twisting.

They joined the group, taking seats on the long couches that were arranged in the corner. Beca shoved Jesse away from her with a sarcastic grin and then plopped down onto the cushion next to Chloe, turning to grin at the redhead. In that moment, looking at the light in Beca’s eyes, knowing that Beca chose _Chloe_ to sit next to, all Chloe wanted to do was reach out and pull the DJ’s face closer, close enough to connect their lips.

And _whoa._ She should _not_ be thinking about that right now.

Chloe felt the heat rush up her neck as she tore her gaze away from Beca’s lips, but apparently she didn’t get by unnoticed, because Beca’s gaze turned serious, her brow furrowing. “Hey,” she said, reaching out and gently touching Chloe’s wrist, “you okay?”

“Yeah,” Chloe laughed, tucking an errant strand of red curls behind her ear. “It’s hot in here.” Beca opened her mouth to respond, but was swiftly interrupted by Amy, hollering at the waiter who had just arrived at the top of the steps.

“I bought a round for all of you lightweights. Let’s get this party started!” Amy grabbed the tray of shots and placed them on the table before them. Emily and Stacie both grinned, leaning forward to grab one. Chloe glanced at Beca.

“Are you going to take one?” She thought that Beca did drink occasionally when spinning, but she wasn’t sure if taking shots right before her set would be in the DJ’s game plan.

“Beca, you _have_ to throw one back.” Amy said, waggling a finger in Beca’s direction. “It’s your last set and I’ll be damned if you don’t start it out right.”

Beca rolled her eyes but didn’t argue with her manager, leaning forward and grabbing two shot glasses. She handed one of them over to Chloe with a sly grin, careful not to spill the clear liquid inside of it. Once everyone had their shots, Amy raised hers high in the air.

“To DJ Badass Extraordinaire, Beca Mitchell!”

The rest of the group echoed the cheer, raising their glasses and thing throwing them back with varying levels of confidence. Chloe, for her part, took the shot easy – it may have been a while since she had partied with the best of them in college, but old habits never die, apparently. Beca, on the other hand, was a sputtering mess. It was kind of adorable, actually, seeing the DJ shake her head violently, tongue hanging out of her mouth in disgust. Chloe giggled.

“DJ Badass can’t take shots, eh?” She teased, poking Beca in the side and earning a dark glare in response.

“Whatever.” Beca rose to her feet, returning her shot glass to the table and letting her gaze sweep around the circle of friends gathered there. “But, really – thanks for coming, guys. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Anything for you, Becaw.” Jesse said, clicking his tongue and winking. The others echoed his sentiment (in much less irritating ways, Chloe thought), and Chloe simply gazed up at Beca, a soft smile on her lips. She was really proud of Beca. Proud of the fact that so many people in this club loved her music _so_ much that she had a whole night dedicated to her farewell, proud of the fact that Beca was moving up in her career and was about to encounter so many exciting possibilities. Chloe was proud of the way Beca gave her friends a small yet sincere grin, letting the rare moment of real emotion shine through before she turned to prepare her set.

She was really proud to be Beca’s friend.

* * *

The night passed easily – despite the huge number of people on the dance floor, Beca felt at peace as she adjusted levels and added beats to mixes throughout the night. She would miss this in the future; miss the crazy cheers of drunken twenty-somethings as they jumped up and down to the music that she was making. Beca knew that her new job would hold even more opportunities for sharing her music with the world, but there was something about being a house DJ that would always be close to her heart.

Close to her physically, though, was Jesse. He had only left the DJ booth a couple of times to get drinks, but otherwise had been hanging next to Beca like a puppy, watching her spin and shouting stupid comments over the noise of the club. Beca didn’t mind, really – though he was somewhat distracting at times, Jesse was full of positive energy and Beca kind of enjoyed his company. Not that she would _ever_ tell him that.

She did wish, however, that Chloe had been around more often. Beca looked down at the crowd, immediately spotting the redhead as she danced with the rest of their friends. Chloe was clearly having a great time – and a great many drinks. While it would have been nice to have Chloe hanging around the booth instead of Jesse, Beca was glad that the redhead was enjoying herself.

There was something about Chloe that Beca couldn’t quite pin down. Beca felt comfortable with her in an effortless, instantaneous way that she never found with _anyone._ Spending time with Chloe at her house had made Beca nervous, at first, but after just a few minutes of chatting with Chloe and watching bad TV, Beca had felt strangely at home. Beca wasn’t the type of person to open up easily – she had trouble talking about herself at all – but Chloe had just been so _interested_ in what she had to say, and for once, Beca felt like she wanted to be known. Chloe was liberal with the touching, another thing that Beca could rarely get behind. It was kind of nice, though – when Chloe had cuddled into her on the couch that night, Beca had felt that weird sense of comfort once again. It was weird. Beca had never had a friend like Chloe before.

“Yo, Becs?” Jesse waved a hand in front of Beca’s face, snapping her out of her musings. She had been continuing to DJ – she had no problem doing that without concentration – but had apparently missed something Jesse was saying, judging by his confused stare. “What’s got you spacing out?”

“Nothing,” Beca said, shaking her head. She launched into a new song and noticed out of the corner of her eye that Chloe and the others were returning to the VIP area, all of them swaying slightly and with more drinks in hand.

Jesse made eyes at her. “Yeah, right. Were you thinking about Chloooooe?” Jesse sing-songed her name, sticking his tongue out as Beca scoffed.

“No, Jesse.”

“Don’t believe you.” He glanced back at them. “And I wouldn’t blame you – she’s been staring at you all night.”

Beca hadn’t noticed that. “What?”

“I don’t know, man. She’s been making some crazy eyes in our direction for the last while, though.” Jesse face lit up in a shit-eating grin. “Think she’s jealous or something?”

“No.” Beca rolled her eyes and turned back to the soundboard, reaching for the microphone. She announced over the speaker that she was taking a break and that the club-goers should enjoy the playlist from one of the other house DJs during her absence. This was met with a variety of drunken cheers as Beca clicked around the laptop and queued up the playlist. She smiled down at the crowd and then turned back to Jesse. “Come on, I’ve only got thirty minutes to hang with everyone.”

They approached the group, Jesse plopping down on the couch next to Amy. Beca surveyed the couches, intending to sit next to Jesse anyway, and was met with huge blue eyes as Chloe looked at her, a puppy dog expression on her face and her bottom lip jutting out just slightly. Did Chloe even know she was looking at Beca that way? It was adorable and there was no way Beca could deny a face like that, so she sat next to Chloe, giving the redhead a soft smile.

“Hi!” Suddenly Beca was being pulled against Chloe as she flung one arm around the DJ, squeezing her shoulders. Beca laughed lightly, slowly extricating herself from Chloe’s grip.

“Hey, Chlo. You having a good time?”

“Duh.” Chloe winked, which had its usual effect of speeding up Beca’s heartbeat just a tad. “It’s impossible not too when the music is this good.” Beca could feel heat rising up her neck, but tried her best to ignore it as Chloe shoved her drink in Beca’s face. “Have some!”

Beca chuckled, grabbing the drink and swirling it around with the straw. “What’s in this?”

“Uh…” Chloe scrunched up her face, clearly thinking hard. “Alcohol.”

She looked so pleased with her answer, Beca just couldn’t help but smile and take a small sip of the drink. Which she regretted immediately because _damn,_ was that drink actually straight alcohol? She could barely taste the soda in it. “Geez, this is really strong.” She handed the drink back, clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth in an effort to get the taste to disappear.

Chloe simply giggled, taking a long sip of the drink and setting it down on the table in front of them. Beca cast her gaze over the others and found that they were all occupied by some intense conversation happening between Amy and Jesse – a conversation that Beca probably didn’t want to be a part of, if she was being honest. So she didn’t object much when Chloe grabbed her attention again.

She grabbed more than her attention, actually – before Beca could react, Chloe was snuggling into Beca’s neck, one arm stretched around Beca’s stomach and pulling her close. Beca felt her pulse rise as a massive blush shot to her face; she may have felt pretty okay with all the touching up until now, but this felt incredibly intimate, and all of their friends were _right there._ Beca didn’t have the heart to stay uncomfortable for long, though, as Chloe grinned and whispered in her ear.

“I’m just so glad you’re here.” She sounded so sincere, pressing her nose against the collar of Beca’s shirt, that Beca felt an intense need to return the embrace. She pulled her arm out from Chloe and wrapped it around the redhead’s back. Chloe let out a long sigh of contentment and closed her eyes. Beca tried not to think too much about it; Chloe was clearly pretty drunk by now, and she was a naturally touchy person anyway, so of course she would want to cuddle against Beca while inebriated.

“I’m glad you’re here, too, Chlo. Thanks for coming.” Chloe nodded into her neck, sending a chill up Beca’s spine. Beca looked across the couches to see that most of their friends were still involved in the argument taking place, but Aubrey was eyeing Beca with a fierce expression. “Uh, Chlo?” Beca whispered, not breaking eye contact with Aubrey. Chloe hummed in response. “Um… Aubrey’s kind of giving me a death glare right now…”

Chloe lifted her head and pulled back from Beca, looking over at Aubrey in confusion. Beca straightened up in her seat, surprised to miss the warmth of Chloe’s contact. Aubrey was now staring at Chloe with raised eyebrows. Beca looked back and forth between the two, trying to understand whatever unspoken conversation was happening there, but eventually gave up and turned to the rest of the group.

Before long, Beca’s break time was up and she rose to her feet to return to the booth. She was stopped, however, by Chloe grabbing her hand and looking up at her with wide blue eyes, that sad puppy expression back again. “Do you have to go?” Chloe said, sounding very small as she tugged on Beca’s hand.

“I’m sorry, Chlo.” Beca gave her hand a squeeze and pulled away, giving her drunk friend an apologetic smile. “I need to go make music.”

Chloe’s face brightened at that, and she smiled at Beca in excitement. “Can you play the Taylor Swift mix? The one you made for us?”

Beca had already considered playing that song again tonight, but the look of hope in Chloe’s eyes confirmed the decision for her. “Of course, I’ll play that first, okay?”

“Thanks, Beca. You’re the best!” Chloe gave her a dazzling smile and slumped back into the seat, loudly announcing to the group that Beca was going to play their Holy Ground mix. Beca hid her grin by turning back to her booth, throwing headphones back around her ears and announcing her return to the dance floor.

She couldn’t seem to shake her smile, however, as she started playing Chloe’s request. The redhead leapt out of her seat, squealing in excitement and pulling Stacie and Aubrey up with her to dance. Beca watched them, rolling her eyes when Jesse made eye contact with a smug grin.

 _So what?_ She thought, ignoring him. Despite Jesse’s irritating ideas about the two of them, Chloe and Beca were starting to become real friends. That was reason enough for Beca to smile.

* * *

The morning of her first day at Wooly Records, Beca woke several hours early. Despite her tendency to sleep forever without the aid of an alarm clock, she was full of anxious energy and had only managed to get a few hours of sleep. After tossing and turning in her bed for a good hour, Beca finally threw back her comforter and crawled out of bed, muting the alarm she had set to go off at 7:00, half an hour from now.

As Beca dragged herself through the bedroom, trying to put together a professional appearance despite her exhaustion, she began to feel a creeping sense of dread. Beca wasn’t a nervous person, generally – she spent enough energy on maintaining her devil-may-care attitude, after all – but this job was a big deal. It could make Beca’s career, she knew; it could be the thing that set her on the map of the music industry or it could be the thing that ultimately decided that she wasn’t cut out for the business.

So yeah, Beca was a little nervous.

Once she was dressed and ready to go, Beca began pacing around the kitchen. It was only 7:15 – she didn’t need to be at work until eight and she was going to go insane sitting in her apartment for the next forty-five minutes, dwelling on all the things she might mess up once she arrived at work.

So she grabbed her messenger bag, swinging it over her shoulder and heading out of the apartment, towards her favorite coffee shop. She figured it might be a good way to get her head back on before heading to the studio – a good cup of coffee to boost her spirits and maybe even a smile from Chloe, if she was lucky.

Chloe wasn’t at the counter when Beca entered the coffee house, though. But Beca had been slowly developing friendships with the rest of the staff at Holy Grounds (with the exception of Aubrey, maybe), so she met Stacie’s wide grin with a smirk of her own.

“Woah, look at you! It’s business Beca!” Stacie said, looking Beca up and down. “Damn, girl. You look _hot._ ” Beca rolled her eyes as Stacie leaned closer. “Seriously, I love it – you got this punk-rock professional thing going on.”

Not that she would admit it out loud, but Beca was somewhat pleased by Stacie’s reaction to her appearance. It had been a few years since she’d had to dress for a professional workplace, and she also wasn’t sure what sort of style would be accepted at a recording studio. While she would like to claim that she haphazardly dressed herself on the way out the door – because Beca _totes_ did not stress about clothes – she actually had spent quite some time trying to find a balance between cool-musician-type and workplace professional.

“Thanks, Stace.” Beca held out a couple dollars cash to the barista. “Can I get a large coffee to go?”

“Course.” Stacie said, waving away Beca’s money. “It’s your first day at your fancy new gig -- don’t have to pay for your coffee today.” Beca scoffed at this, but knew better than to argue. She seemed to often have free coffee shoved in her face at this place. Stacie moved over to the coffee machine, calling over her shoulder to the back room. “Chlo! You’ve got a visitor!”

Beca _obviously_ wasn’t there to see Chloe, but she was sort of glad that Stacie had thought to call her out from the back. Chloe leaned out of the doorway, a confused look on her face. “What?” Stacie simply jerked her head towards Beca, and Chloe’s face brightened substantially as she spotted her friend. “Becs!” She came out around the counter and gently gripped Beca’s shoulders. “What are you doing here? You look…” Her eyes drifted across Beca’s form, causing the DJ’s cheeks to heat slightly under the deep blue gaze. “You look really nice.”

“Uh, thanks.” Beca said to Chloe, and then again to Stacie as the tall brunette handed over her coffee. “I had a little extra time before work, so I decided to stop by.” She gave Chloe a wry grin. “Wanted to make sure you wouldn’t miss me too much today.”

Chloe swatted Beca’s arm playfully, her eyes twinkling. “Whatever, brat. I think we’ll get by _just fine._ ”

Beca grinned, not bothering to continue the banter but just taking a deep breath and staring at Chloe. Maybe it was strange, but being in the presence of her friend had calmed her heartbeat substantially. The nervous energy would surely come back as soon as she left the coffee shop, but for the moment, Beca felt grounded in those blue eyes.

“How are you feeling?” Chloe said, her gaze soft. Beca wondered if Chloe was just exceptionally perceptive or if Beca was getting lazy in hiding her emotions.

“Uh, fine. I guess.” Beca bit her lip, looking past Chloe to the wall behind her. “I don’t know, guess I’m a little nervous.”

Chloe’s smile was so warm, Beca felt as though she could wrap herself inside it and hide forever from all the scary things in the world. Running a hand up and down Beca’s arm in a surprisingly soothing way, Chloe spoke softly. “That makes sense. It’s a big deal.” Beca nodded. “You’re going to be great, though.”

“Thanks.” There was something about the way Chloe was looking at her – the enormous depth in those damn blue eyes – that made Beca feel as if Chloe was telling the truth. She took a long breath, trying to memorize Chloe’s face in order to remember it throughout her first day, and checked her phone for the time. “I should probably go – I really don’t want to be late.”

“Of course.” Chloe grinned. “Come here.” She wrapped Beca up in a tight hug, filling the tiny brunette with a sense of warmth that spread through her chest to the tips of her toes. Chloe gave her one last squeeze and then released her, smiling bright. “You tell me all about it tonight.”

“Will do.” Beca nodded, giving Chloe a soft smile of thanks. The redhead probably had no idea how much that small interaction had increased Beca’s confidence (because it was kind of weird… it’s not like they even knew each other that well, right?), and Beca didn’t really have a way to express her gratitude. “See you later.”

Chloe said goodbye as Beca started walking to the door. Stacie leaned back over the counter, calling out to get Beca’s attention once more. “Knock ‘em dead, Mitchell!” She called with a wink.

Beca exited the shop with a grin and a new sense of sureness, the cup of coffee in her hand serving as an anchor as she walked to the bus stop. For better or for worse, Beca was about to take on the music world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Your comments and kudos never fail to brighten my day. Come find me on tumblr @crazypitches and we can yell about bechloe together.


	7. Start of Something New

“Alright, everybody, shut up for a minute. Let’s get this meeting over with and get back to work.” Jackson, the lead producer of Wooly Records, stood at the head of a fairly large conference room, waving his hands to gather the attention of his employees. Gathered around the room were all the other producers at the label – about a dozen in total – who had been chatting loudly until Jackson silenced them with a glare.

Beca, for her part, sat at the very corner of the room and had yet to say a word.

“We have a new team member joining us today.” Jackson said, rubbing his hands together and sweeping his gaze over the group until it landed on Beca. “Let’s all welcome Beca Mitchell.”

Suddenly every eye was on Beca, to her great discomfort. Her coworkers smiled and nodded their heads at her, some of them giving waves or saying hello. They all seemed pretty friendly, but Beca still couldn’t quite get her nerves to calm down. She gave them a nod and a half-smile, hoping that Jackson wouldn’t ask her to give a statement or something.

“She’s the mind behind that track “Flashlight” that I showed you last week.” Jackson continued. “We released that as a single today – should be on the air throughout the week.” He made eye contact with Beca again, giving her an encouraging smile. “And Beca’s here with us now as a producer. Luke,” Jackson turned his attention to a tall blond man who was seated on the other side of the room, “I’m going to partner her with you for now – you have an artist coming in today?” Luke nodded. “Okay, you two will co-produce the tracks. Show Mitchell the ropes.”

Luke swiveled in his chair to glance at Beca, giving her a nod of recognition. Beca figured she would be partnered with a senior producer for a while, but Jackson had said they would co-produce the tracks they were recording today. Was that just a formality? Was she actually going to have equal creative control with Luke? It seemed unlikely, but Beca didn’t really care – as long as Luke was able to show her what to do and wasn’t a complete ass, Beca was sure she’d be branching out on her own soon. If nothing else, she would be working with Emily later in the week.

Jackson moved on to other topics for the week, explaining how they had a high-profile artist recording in their studios for the next while, so the largest recording studio would be in use. Beca wanted desperately to know who was going to be there, but it didn’t seem like that information was going to be shared with the producers not working on the mystery client’s music. Jackson continued, touching briefly on other work assignments and a few details relating to computers and paperwork, and then clapped his hands together and told the team to get to work.

Beca stood up awkwardly, the new ID badge at her hip catching on the armrest of the chair and falling to the ground. As she bent to retrieve it, she heard a low, British voice call out to her. “Hey, I’m Luke.”

Standing quickly and hoping that she didn’t look too out of sorts, Beca held out a hand. “Nice to meet you. Thanks for, uh… working with me.”

Luke raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Yeah. No problem.” He started out of the conference room, and then looked backwards as Beca stood rooted to the spot, unsure if she should follow. “You coming?”

“Right.” Beca rushed forward to join him. “Yes.”

They weaved through the main office part of the studio, where Beca’s new desk was located, and made their way to one of the several recording studios in the back. Luke settled into one of the swivel chairs behind the soundboard, gesturing for Beca to take the other one.

“You know how to use this equipment, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Beca said, nodding confidently. “I think there’s a couple of pieces here that I’m less familiar with, but I’ve used them all in some capacity.”

“Good. Our artist should be here soon – her name is Cynthia Rose. She’s a pretty dope singer. We’re putting together her first album.”

“Nice.” Beca wondered again how much she should actually be contributing during this session, but didn’t really want to bother asking. Winging it seemed like a good option.

Beca and Luke were saved from any awkward small talk as two people came through the doorway. Luke stood (Beca immediately following suit) and shook the hands of the new arrivals. “Hey, guys, welcome!” He gestured to Beca. “This is my new partner, Beca Mitchell. We’ll both be working on the album.”

The woman in the front – who sported some sick bright pink hair – grinned widely and held her hand out to Beca. “Cynthia Rose, nice to meet you.” She tilted her head back to her companions. “This is my manager, Ashley.” Beca shook Ashley’s hand as well, trying best as she could to put on a welcoming face. This was the part of the job she had not been so excited about – interacting with people. Once they got Cynthia Rose in the studio and the music became the focus, Beca knew she would feel more comfortable.

And that’s what happened next, without much fanfare. Apparently Cynthia Rose had already recorded some backing instrumentals, so today’s work would be focused on creating the beats and synth sounds on the tracks and recording vocals. They played through the first track, Cynthia Rose singing along so that the producers could get a sense of what they were trying to create. Then, the real magic happened – Luke and Beca started laying down beats, suggesting different ideas to each other and Cynthia Rose and eventually creating a thick fabric of sound that sounded pretty damn great, if Beca did say so herself.

Best of all, once they started working on the music, all of Beca’s hesitation about the job and her people skills had simply faded away. She was _good_ at this – Beca knew that. So she just focused on the music, letting it control her actions.

After creating the basic sound for the first track, they sent Cynthia Rose into the studio to record the vocal tracks. Luke was right, CR’s voice was _killer._ It had the sort of depth and rasp of a classic jazz singer, and her impressive vocal range and effortlessly cool charisma created a musical persona that Beca thought was pretty irresistible. If they all played their cards right, CR could easily become a big deal in the pop world.

After they had recorded the lead vocals, layered in background vocals, and mixed the levels so that the sound blended perfectly, Cynthia Rose came back into the booth and the four of them listened to the track together.

“That sounds really great,” Ashley said, grinning at her friend.

For Beca, though, something was off. The track did sound good, but it was missing something, a sense of drama that would make the ending of the track explode. Luke seemed to also be puzzling over something in his head, eyebrows scrunched. He turned to Beca.

“What’re you thinking?”

Beca let out a long breath of air, her mind simultaneously considering several different options for tweaking the song. “What if…” She bit her lip. “I feel like it needs more at the end. What if we strip the third verse? Just have main vocals… and the kick drum?”

Luke was silent for a second, considering the suggestion. “And then bring everything in at full volume for the chorus.”

“Yeah,” Beca said, glancing up to CR. “And maybe add some, like…” She demonstrated her idea, singing a small vocal run that she thought they could layer into the background.

Cynthia Rose’s face lit up, nodding her head slowly. “Yeah, I like that. Can we hear what the verse would sound like?”

Luke nodded, turning his chair and clicking through the computer software, eliminating the bits of the track that they wanted to cut out. He moved the playback marker to just before the third verse and hit play, leaning back. A slow smile crept across Beca’s face as she listened to the sample – they would have to adjust the reverb on the kick drums to give it a little more depth in this section, but that could come later. The important thing was, the song sounded _awesome_ as it blasted into the last chorus.

“Hell yeah!” Cynthia Rose said, holding up a hand for Beca to slap. “Damn, I like the new kid, Luke.”

Luke grinned. “Yeah, I guess I do too.” Beca thought her face was probably on fire, but she couldn’t help but laugh good naturedly at her colleagues, because she liked them too. She liked everything about this job, in fact – it felt like the place she had meant to be all along.

“Okay, okay, you all can flatter me later.” Beca said, smirking at Luke. “Let’s record those last vocals.” She shooed Cynthia Rose back into the studio and slipped headphones over her ears, grinning as they started back to work.

* * *

Chloe was washing mugs behind the counter of Holy Grounds, humming along to the radio. Usually the coffeehouse played a constant selection of female artists from the 20th century, but Chloe had convinced Aubrey to relinquish her hold on the radio for the day. She had settled on her favorite pop station and happily sang along the words to nearly every song that came on.

The water from the sink was drowning out the voice of the two DJs who were currently giving some sort of commentary over the radio. Chloe didn’t really care – they were fine at their job and usually picked good music to play, but she didn’t feel the need to hang on their every word and stupid jokes. But as she turned off the sink and grabbed a towel to dry her hands, the DJs’ words caught her attention.

“…and now we’ve got a hot new track from over at Wooly Records.” Chloe froze upon hearing the name – wasn’t that Beca’s studio? A bright smile overtook her face and she raced to the radio controls to turn up the volume. She knew that the studio probably released singles all the time, but Beca’s song was supposed to be on the radio sometime soon and if this was it, she didn’t want to miss it.

“I love this song, Donald –“One of the DJs continued, “I could definitely see it becoming a pop hit.”

“I agree. This song comes to you from Beca Mitchell, a new producer in the area, featuring Emily Junk.” Chloe nearly knocked over the stack of mugs she was standing next to as she flailed and squealed, unable to hear her excitement. Beca’s song, _her_ Beca, was on the radio. And apparently these radio hosts loved it. Not that Chloe would expect anything else.

“Bree!” Chloe shouted, pulling the confused blonde over. “It’s Beca’s song!” She turned up the radio higher, earning a few strange looks from the customers throughout the shop.

“This Beca Mitchell is talented, Bumper.” One of the hosts was saying, “if this song is any indication, I’m guessing that by this time next year she has several collaborations and a few Grammys under her belt.”

Chloe let out another crazed squeal and smacked Aubrey on the arm. “Did you _hear_ that?” She shrieked, “ _Grammys?!”_

“Yes, Chlo, calm down.” Aubrey placed a hand on Chloe’s shoulder in an attempt to calm the wild flailing of her friend, but it was hardly effective as Chloe’s smile just grew brighter.

“Okay, anyway,” the radio hosts continued, “we’ll let you guys be the judge. If you like the track, you can buy it on iTunes now. This is “Flashlight” by Beca Mitchell, featuring Emily Junk.”

Chloe held her breath as the song started, a strong, danceable beat thumping through the coffee shop and Emily’s smooth vocals floating on top of it. The song built as it progressed, layers of synthesizer and more complex beats making each phrase more exciting than the next. By the time it reached its end, Chloe was nearly hyperventilating.

“Bree!” She hopped up and down, grabbing Aubrey’s hands. “Did you _hear_ that?”

Aubrey rolled her eyes, but a small grin was on her face. “Yes, Chloe. I did.”

“That song was SO GOOD.”

“It was…” Aubrey grinned. “Yeah, it was good.”

“See!” Chloe beamed, smacking Aubrey lightly again. “Even you liked it! Beca’s amazing! She’s going to win Grammys and be famous and I’m going to go download her song right now!” Before Aubrey could respond, Chloe was bounding towards the back room where her phone was located, nearly exploding with her excited energy.

She opened her music app and quickly bought and downloaded her song, a huge grin splitting her face as she saw Beca’s name on her phone as the artist. _So cool._ She immediately started playing the track again, and then opened up her texts so she could scream at Beca.

_Chloe Beale: Beca!!! I know you’re at work BUT I JUST HEARD FLASHLIGHT ON THE RADIO OMG !!!!!!!!!_

She pressed send and set her phone on the office desk, pumping up the volume and launching into her own private dance party to her new favorite song. It was cut short, however, when her phone buzzed with a new message.

_Beca Mitchell: Really? What did you think?_

_Beca Mitchell: I’m on lunch break, btw_

What did she _think?_ Chloe rolled her eyes. Obviously it was the greatest song she had ever heard, mostly because Beca had created it, but also because it was a damn good song even on its own and Emily’s voice was like an angel’s. She smiled and shook her head, typing out her response as fast as she could.

_Chloe Beale: Are you KIDDING? It is so good Beca. I’m obsessed. SO GOOD._

_Beca Mitchell: haha. Thanks, Chlo._

Chloe laughed at her phone, smiling stupidly. Beca clearly did not understand exactly how excited she was about this song.

_Chloe Beale: the radio people said you were going to win grammys_

_Beca Mitchell: Well I doubt that, but that’s… cool. I guess._

_Chloe Beale: YES IT’S COOL AND IT’S ALSO TRUE_

_Beca Mitchell: Whatever you say_

_Beca Mitchell: But I gotta get back now. I’ll text later_

_Chloe Beale: Okay! I’m so proud of you, Becs. <3_

Chloe smiled at her phone and turned to put it away when one more message lit up the screen.

_Beca Mitchell: Thanks <3_

Staring at the tiny red heart emoji on the screen, Chloe could feel her own heart constrict and pound in her chest. She knew it was pretty childish to look at that emoji and feel any strong emotion – it’s just an _emoji_ for god’s sake – but Chloe knew that Beca hated emojis, and the fact that her DJ friend had spent the extra second to text her back and send her a heart made Chloe kind of giddy. Grinning like a maniac, Chloe finally replaced her phone in her bag and went out into the coffee shop, humming the chorus of Beca’s song as she went.

* * *

Beca collapsed on her couch, tossing her messenger bag on the floor and stretching her legs over the armrest with a long sigh. She was exhausted from her first day at work, as fulfilling as it had been. They had pretty much finished the first songs and were working on a second, to be finished tomorrow. Beca really enjoyed the process, but she couldn’t help but think that it would be more efficient if she could create the beats and backing music on her own, in her studio, and then bring the singer in later to record.

 _Oh well._ She thought, rubbing a hand over her face. _Maybe after I win all those Grammys Chloe was talking about._

That was another thing about this endlessly exciting day – apparently people _did_ like her song. Emily had also texted Beca, freaking out about hearing herself on the radio. Beca hadn’t heard the song on air yet, but her boss had stopped her on her way out of work and said that people seemed to be really enjoying it.

So though she was exhausted, Beca felt pretty damn happy, too. Her career was _happening,_ after so many years of waiting and hoping. With a smile on her face, Beca dug her phone out of her bag and wrote up a message to Chloe.

_Beca Mitchell: So I survived my first day_

Beca set her phone against her chest and closed her eyes, taking a long, relaxing breath as she waited for Chloe’s reply. She was eager to share her experience with Chloe, actually – it was too much for Beca to keep to herself and she knew that the redhead would be incredibly excited for her. She had seemed pretty enthusiastic about hearing Beca’s song, after all.

Instead of the message she was expecting, Beca’s phone began to ring, Chloe’s face lit up on the screen. Beca generally hated phone calls, but she figured talking to Chloe would be easier than typing out a whole explanation of her day.

“Hello?”   
“Becs!” Chloe’s voice was loud in Beca’s ear – the redhead was clearly dying to hear about Beca’s day.

“Aren’t you still at work?” Beca said, wondering why Chloe would call her if she was still working the counter at Holy Grounds.

“I’m on my way out now.”

“Oh.” Beca paused, an idea forming in her head. Holy Grounds was so close to her house, it probably wouldn’t be too much of a detour for Chloe to stop by. Then Beca could tell her about her day face-to-face, no crappy phone call needed. “Do you… do you want to stop by here?”

“Your apartment?” Chloe said, surprised. She had never been to Beca’s apartment before.

“Uh… yeah. I was thinking, maybe we could get a pizza or something? And I can tell you about my job.”

“That sounds great!”

“You sure?” Beca didn’t want Chloe to feel obligated to come just because Beca had had a big day. Chloe was probably exhausted, too – she had also been working all day long.

“Obvs, Beca. I’ll be there soon! Text me your address?”

“Will do.” Beca ended the call and typed in the address of her apartment, sending it off to Chloe immediately. She soon got a response, containing three different emojis with very excited faces. Beca rolled her eyes with a smile and then stood up from the couch.

Her place wasn’t too messy, but there were dirty dishes and laundry lying around that Beca wanted to get rid of before Chloe showed up. She bustled around the small living room, transporting the dishes to the sink and tossing other miscellaneous belongings into her bedroom. By the time the place looked appropriate for guests, Beca heard a soft knock at the door.

As soon as she opened the door, she was attacked by a swarm of red curls, pulling her into what may have been the tightest hug that Beca had ever experienced. Beca laughed lightly, wrapping her arms around Chloe as the redhead squeezed the life out of her, making all sorts of nonsensical noises.

Eventually Chloe released her and allowed her to breathe once more. Though the dazzling smile on Chloe’s face put Beca’s ability to breathe into question yet again. Chloe was beautiful as always, but her blue eyes were filled with such excitement and happiness that Beca felt kind of dizzy looking into them.

“Becs, my favorite producer ever!” Chloe grabbed her by the shoulders again, squeezing them lightly. “Thanks for having me over!”

“Of course,” Beca smiled, stepping back and allowing Chloe to enter the house. “Pizza?”

“Yes. Then you’re going to tell me every detail about your day.”

Beca laughed and sat on the couch, Chloe joining her. They ordered a pizza and then sat back, staring at each other with soft smiles as Beca began to talk. She told Chloe about her coworkers, about Luke and his British accent, about Cynthia Rose and her badass singing voice. She explained the ideas she had about the songs with quiet pride, though upon hearing them Chloe burst into excitement and declared Beca a genius.

Though Beca stubbornly denied every compliment that Chloe gave her, she could feel herself smiling wider as the night went on. It was nice, she thought, to have someone look at her like she was something special. Chloe made her feel important and Beca felt like she could open up to Chloe, which she didn’t feel with… well, anyone. It was a strange thing to think, that Chloe might be a person that could _know_ Beca, but it spread a pleasant warmth through Beca’s chest as she looked into Chloe’s deep blue eyes.

Eventually, in the midst of shoving pizza in their face, Beca set up her laptop on the coffee table and they continued their conversation over the backdrop of old episodes of America’s Next Top Model. Beca asked Chloe about her day, but that mostly ended up with Chloe gushing some more about Beca and Emily’s song.

“I downloaded it and everything,” Chloe said, “I think I’ve listened to it like twenty times already.”

Beca rolled her eyes, though she felt a great sense of pride that Chloe liked their song so much. “You didn’t have to buy it, you know. I could’ve given you the file.”

“But I wanted to buy it! Had to do my part to get you on the charts. Or… however that works. I just mean that I wanted to support the _artist.”_ Chloe waggled her eyebrows suggestively, causing a faint blush to light up Beca’s cheeks.

“Well, thanks. I’m really glad you like it.”

“Obviously.”

Beca’s phone buzzed and she grabbed it off the table, seeing that she had a message from Jesse.

_Jesse Swanson: So how was your first day??_

Chloe’s attention was turned back to the TV show, but Beca didn’t want to ignore her to have a conversation with Jesse, so she typed back a quick reply.

_Beca Mitchell: Good. Tell you about it later, hanging with Chlo_

_Jesse Swanson: Bow chicka bow wow ;)_

Beca rolled her eyes and tossed her phone back on the table, looking back to Chloe. The redhead had her lip between her teeth, clearly trying to not look like she was curious about who Beca was texting. She was so obvious, though, that Beca had to laugh a little.

“That was just Jesse, he was wondering how my first day was.”

“Oh,” Chloe said, her eyebrows knitting together. Beca wasn’t sure what was causing the slightly distressed face her friend was making, but she didn’t like it. “Uh…” Chloe started, seeming uncharacteristically unsure of her words, “Are you two… together?”

Beca nearly choked, completely taken aback by Chloe’s question. “What?” She said, raising her eyebrows. “Uh… no. Definitely not.”

“Oh.” Chloe nodded, blushing furiously. “Sorry. You guys just… you seem close.”

Chloe looked away, refusing to make eye contact with Beca. It was strange – she had never seen the barista look so insecure about anything before. She took a deep breath, unsure of how to respond.

“I don’t know… I wouldn’t really say that.” Chloe finally looked back at her, confused. “I don’t really… _do_ close.”

“What do you mean?” Chloe brow was furrowed, her mouth set in a slight frown. Beca shifted in her seat, trying to figure out what she was trying to say.

“Uh… I don’t know. I guess I just mean that, well, my friends… I love my friends, right? They’re great. But we’re not _close._ People like Jesse, or Emily…” She trailed off, biting her lip as she stared at her hands. “Ugh, I don’t know what I’m trying to say.”

Chloe was looking at her with soft eyes, silently encouraging Beca to continue.

“I guess…” Beca clasped her hands together, twisting her fingers as she struggled to explain what she was thinking. “I feel like my friendships are all based around… like… a certain part of me? Um, like there’s this version of myself that I put out there, the snarky, sarcastic Beca Mitchell. And people like Jesse… that’s who they know.” She hesitated, frowning. She wasn’t getting the words out correctly. “But I don’t mean that in a bad way? Like that sarcasm or whatever is definitely a part of me, a big part. And I like those friendships how they are. It’s… maybe it’s a little superficial or something, but it’s good. I like it.” She gave a nod, still staring at her hands. “But… I don’t know, sometimes I feel like there’s another part of me, a deeper part, that wants…”

She trailed off, completely at a loss. What _did_ she want? Beca had always been content with keeping people at arms’ length, at diffusing emotional situations with sarcasm and sticking to herself at the end of the day. But there _was_ this deeper part of her, a part that felt warm when Chloe hugged her, that felt at peace when Chloe listened to her talk. A part that wanted to be understood, to be known. But Beca didn’t know how to express this.

Beca shook her head, letting out a humorless laugh. “Uh… sorry. I didn’t mean to turn this into weird Beca-therapy time. I’m… yeah, sorry.”

Chloe smiled softly at Beca, reaching out to touch her shoulder. “Don’t be sorry, Becs. I think it’s good to talk about stuff like this. And if you feel… if you feel comfortable talking to me, then I am always happy to listen.” Beca stared at Chloe, allowing herself to get lost in the blue eyes that seemed to hold the secrets of the universe.

“Yeah, I… thanks, Chloe. I _do_ feel comfortable with you, I think. Which… I don’t know.” Beca could feel her cheeks heat up as she returned her gaze to her hands. Why was she even saying all of this? “Just… I’ve never had a friend like you before, I guess.”

The light in Chloe’s smile was blinding. Her eyes sparkled and she bit her lip, as if unsure of how to respond to Beca’s confession. “I think I could say the same about you, Becs.”

Beca met her eyes with a small smile, feeling suddenly overwhelmed by the emotions pooling in her chest. She wasn’t even sure how to describe them all – they just surged with her heartbeat as she looked at Chloe. And they screamed at her to reach out to Chloe, to really express what she was feeling and tell her friend how incredibly important she had become to Beca. She just didn’t know how, though, so she settled for a small smile.  

“You’re a really good friend, Chlo.”

Chloe grinned, opening her arms. “Come here.”

Snuggling into Chloe was comfortable and easy. Beca rested her head on Chloe’s shoulder, breathing in the smell of the redhead’s shampoo and allowing herself to feel safe and protected in Chloe’s arms. Without a word, both of them turned back to the TV show with small smiles on their faces, both content to simply enjoy the warmth of each other’s company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter was a little shorter. I hope you still enjoyed it! 
> 
> Thanks for reading and reviewing, you guys make my days very happy. :) Come hit me up on tumblarrr @crazypitches to scream about bechloe and other trash.


	8. This Slope Is Treacherous

Beca was happy. Happier than she had felt in the longest time – maybe ever. She was three weeks into her new job, spending each day falling further in love with music production and working with one amazing musician after the next. Emily had come in several times already, working closely with Beca to write songs for their upcoming album. Luke had proven to be a good partner for Beca, too; they were able to bounce ideas off one another with ease, always respectful and excited about the other’s contributions to the sound.

Not only was Beca loving her new job, but the new job was loving her. “Flashlight” had climbed onto the Billboard Top 100 over the course of the last month, to Beca’s utter shock. Of course it was only fluctuating around 90-95, but the fact that it had been recognized by _anyone_ was more than Beca could ever have imagined. It was playing on radios all over the country, now, and thousands of people had downloaded it on iTunes. Emily was constantly ecstatic, sending Beca enthusiastic texts every time she heard their track playing around her college campus.

Having such a big success so early in her career was earning Beca quite the reputation at Wooly Records. While she still worked with Luke for the moment, her boss had approached her with several tentative plans for her future: doing lead production for some fairly popular artists, working with him on high-profile tracks, maybe even doing a solo album at some point. It was a lot to take in, at times; Beca had been an undiscovered artist for years, so suddenly having all of her dreams realized was enough to make her head spin. She took it in stride, though, focusing on the music whenever the building pressure of her job started to make her anxious.

It certainly didn’t hurt that every time she _did_ get anxious and overwhelmed, she had a friend there to help her through it. Chloe was definitely a huge part of the reason Beca had been so happy lately – she owed enough to the redhead to be able to admit that freely. Despite Beca’s absence from Holy Grounds, the two had been continuing to spend more and more time together over the last month.

They were both wildly busy, so their time together was usually spent simply – Chloe would often stop by Beca’s apartment on her way home from the coffee shop and they would unwind together, discussing their lives over food that Chloe would cook and mixes that Beca would play. It was easy, unlike all of Beca’s other friendships. She never felt like she had to guard herself around Chloe – how could she, when Chloe was nothing but soft blue eyes and bright smiles?

It was such a rare thing for Beca, to feel understood for the first time or to actually _enjoy_ hugs and cuddles with another person. There were moments, curled up with Chloe and watching Grey’s Anatomy or the food network, where Beca had to take a deep breath and close her eyes tight in order to not feel completely overcome by the warmth in her chest.

They may not have known each other for more than a couple of months, but Beca was already having trouble imagining a life without Chloe Beale.

Beca straightened her dress, checking over her appearance in the mirror. In about fifteen minutes, Chloe would show up at Beca’s apartment and the two of them would leave for Stacie’s birthday dinner. Beca had been instructed to dress up – apparently Aubrey had planned the whole thing and insisted on a classy restaurant – so Beca had begrudgingly put on a little black cocktail dress for the first time in several months. Once she approved her wardrobe in the mirror, Beca rustled around her closet for her heels. That was one advantage of dressing up for a night out – Beca would get to be slightly taller than usual. Hopefully tall enough that no one would give her shit about it, though that was unlikely.

When Chloe had invited Beca to join in Stacie’s birthday festivities, the DJ had been somewhat surprised. Stacie was one of Chloe’s closest friends and Beca got along with her well, but she hadn’t realized that they were friendly enough for Beca to be invited to an event like this. While she was sure that Chloe was the only reason she was tagging along, Beca still felt a surge of happiness knowing that Chloe’s friends might consider Beca a friend as well.

Chloe arrived only ten minutes after she said she would, and Beca opened the apartment door with a smirk. All of her bravado slipped instantly, however, as Beca took in Chloe’s full appearance. The stupid redhead was wearing a deep blue dress that hugged her body closely and flowed to an end just above her knees. The sight of Chloe in a dress was one thing, but what really made Beca temporarily speechless was how the dress made Chloe’s eyes pop like giant sapphires, impossibly blue – if Beca didn’t have the real thing in front of her, she would’ve sworn that someone photoshopped those eyes because it was just _not natural._

For her part, Chloe seemed equally dumbstruck – she was looking at Beca with an odd expression, her mouth slightly agape. “You’re…” she eventually said, her eyes flicking back to Beca’s face, “You’re wearing a dress.”

“Uh,” Beca laughed, running a hand through her hair. “Yeah, I am… I do that sometimes.” She wasn’t sure why an intense blush was making its way up her chest, because this was just _Chloe,_ her best friend and closest confidante. But as Chloe scanned Beca’s body once more with those ridiculous eyes, Beca felt a creep of insecurity making its way into the back of her head.

But then Chloe smiled at her, a dazzling smile that lit up the whole room, and Beca’s discomfort seemed to evaporate instantly. “You look amazing, Beca.” Chloe’s voice was soft, almost reverent – a tone that Beca had never heard before and one that she didn’t want to dwell on.

“You do too, Chlo. Really.” Chloe’s face brightened further (if that was even possible at this point) and Beca turned to the couch to grab her purse. “You ready?” 

“Yep.” Chloe led them down the stairs and out onto the street, where Chloe’s car was waiting.

“Why are you the designated driver?” Beca asked, sliding into the passenger seat of Chloe’s beat up Honda. “Don’t you want to drink?”

“I’ll probably have a drink with dinner, yeah.” Chloe twisted her key in the ignition and the car awoke with a growl. She pulled onto the road, making her way towards the restaurant. “But you don’t have a car, so I had to drive you. Aubrey’s also driving.”

“Well, you could drink and I could drive us home. I feel bad.”

“No!” Chloe shot Beca an incredulous look. “I _told_ you, Beca – this is Stacie’s birthday but _also_ we are secretly celebrating the fact that you are on the freaking Billboard Top 100! So you haveto drink to that or I am going to disown you.”

Beca rolled her eyes with a huff, but felt a small sense of pride in Chloe’s words. Chloe had been Beca’s number one fan in the past two months, keeping track of “Flashlight” in the charts almost more religiously than Emily had. The barista was intensely proud of her friend, and she took every opportunity she could to remind Beca as much. “Whatever you say, Chlo.”

Chloe shot Beca a satisfied grin as they pulled into the restaurant. As Beca climbed out of the car – stumbling slightly in her heels and hoping no one had seen – Chloe skipped over to her and grabbed her hand, tangling their fingers together comfortably. Beca was slightly surprised; hand-holding was not standard procedure with her friends, or even most of her romantic relationships. But the shy smile on Chloe’s face as they walked towards the building warmed Beca’s heart and she couldn’t help but give Chloe’s hand a little squeeze.

They spotted their friends as soon as they entered the restaurant and Aubrey shot them a severe look as they made their way towards the table, probably irritated that they were late. Stacie was much happier to see them, waggling her eyebrows at Chloe for some reason and shouting hello from across the room. Chloe didn’t let go of Beca’s hand until they reached the table and they took their seats beside one another.

“Happy birthday, Stacie!” Beca said, giving Stacie the most sincere smile she could manage. Stacie and Aubrey were sitting close, Aubrey’s gaze returning to Stacie’s face every few moments. Aubrey had planned the event, after all – she was probably just trying to make sure Stacie was enjoying it and that everything was going perfectly. Some of the other employees at Holy Grounds were at the table – Jessica, the shop’s main baker, was on Beca’s other side and Lilly, the barista that Beca could never quite understand, was across the table.

“Thanks, Beca!” Stacie winked at Beca, raising her glass in acknowledgement. “Have you heard from Amy? She said she was coming.”

“Oh, Amy’s gonna be here?” Beca hadn’t heard that they had also invited her manager, but she wasn’t surprised – Stacie and Amy had developed quite the friendship while drinking each other under the table at Beca’s shows. “She’s probably just trying to make a dramatic entrance.”

Aubrey rolled her eyes. “That’s so rude. It’s Stacie’s _birthday,_ she should be here.”

“It’s okay, Bree.” Stacie patted Aubrey’s hand with a smile, and the blonde’s face reddened substantially as she looked back at Stacie. “I’m sure she’ll be here soon.”

As if on cue, Amy barreled through the doors of the restaurant and came to a crashing halt at their table, a mischievous grin on her face. “Sorry I’m late, everyone.” She said, taking her seat. “I just could _not_ get away from one of my boyfriends. He was worse than a dingo during mating season, if you know what I mean.” She gave an over-exaggerated wink, earning snickers from everybody at the table.

Beca rolled her eyes with a smirk, glancing down at the cocktail menu and trying to determine the cheapest way to get drunk while at the restaurant. Chloe had told her to celebrate, after all.

* * *

The night wore on in a haze of laughter, drinks, and expensive food. Chloe had halted her alcohol consumption after a glass of wine, but she was still enjoying herself – she was with all of her closest friends, after all. She was really happy that Beca had agreed to join them tonight; when she invited Beca, the DJ had seemed somewhat reluctant, claiming that she didn’t _really_ know Stacie and that it would be awkward to have her there. But after being met with Chloe’s puppy-dog eyes, Beca had agreed. Chloe was finding that technique to be very effective in swaying her friend’s choices, despite Beca’s insistence that she was a hard-ass who bent her will for no one.

Beca was currently about as far away from a hard-ass as one could get. Apparently she had a very low alcohol tolerance, as she had only had two drinks (which were rather strong, to be fair) but was currently looking around at the group with a floppy drunken smile.

Chloe was listening to Jessica and Stacie argue about a movie, trying to figure out whether it _was_ worth going to see, when she felt Beca’s gaze on her. She turned, grinning as she saw Beca staring at her with dark blue eyes and a lazy smile.

“What?” Chloe said, trying to hold back her amusement.

“What?” Beca repeated, her smile growing wider.

“You’re staring at me.”

Beca giggled – an honest-to-God giggle, apparently Beca _was_ drunk – and shook her head. “Am not.”

Chloe nudged her with her shoulder. “Are too. What are you staring at?”

“Your face.”

Chloe could feel her cheeks redden, but she knew that Beca was just being drunk and innocent. “Why?”

Beca rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and huffed, as if Chloe’s question was completely absurd. “Because it’s the best face. _Obviously._ ” She giggled again, reaching for her cocktail and taking a long sip.

Chloe’s face was definitely bright red at this point, but who could blame her? Beca, whom she was pretty sure she was _kind of_ in love with at this point, thought that Chloe had the best face. Chloe was pretty proud of herself for not squealing and jumping up and down at that statement. “I think you’re drunk, Becs.”

“Woo!”  Beca exclaimed, fist pumping the air in celebration of the fact. She looked back at Chloe with raised eyebrows, reaching out and tangling their fingers together on the table. “That’s what you wanted!”

Looking at their clasped hands, Chloe laughed lightly. “Well, if you’re happy about it.”

“I am happy!” Beca said, squeezing Chloe’s hand. She looked it, too – of course the alcohol was a contributing factor to Beca’s openness at the moment, but Chloe knew Beca pretty well and could see the sincerity in her smile. Beca _was_ happy, here with Chloe, holding hands at the table with their friends.

Chloe was pretty damn happy too.

* * *

“You guys good to get home?” They were leaving the restaurant a couple hours later, Aubrey and Chloe towing the more inebriated of their friends towards their cars. Jessica had also driven, sober thanks to her early morning at the coffee shop, and she volunteered to take Lilly and Amy home so that Aubrey could drive Stacie and Chloe could tend to Beca.

“No prob. See some of you guys tomorrow!” Jessica, Lily, and Amy piled into the car and were on their way with no issues.

“So, I’m just going to take Stacie home.” Aubrey said, glancing at the tall brunette who was currently hanging on her shoulder and looking at her with wide doe-eyes. “Is Beca going to be okay?”

“I’m _fine._ ” Beca said, crossing her arms and glaring at Aubrey. “I’m _awesome._ ”

Chloe laughed, placing a placating hand on Beca’s shoulder. “Stand down, Becs. Aubrey’s just looking out for you.” Beca pouted, but leaned into Chloe’s arm and let her arms fall to her sides. “I think we’ll be okay.”

“Okay. See you…” Aubrey trailed off, seeming uncertain. “I might crash on Stacie’s couch or something. So I’ll probably see you tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay. No problem. Happy birthday, Stace!” Stacie grinned widely at the two of them, swaying slightly. Beca and Chloe took their leave of the other pair, walking back to Chloe’s car hand in hand. The drive back consisted of Beca changing the radio station every thirty seconds and giving harsh, yet somewhat unintelligible, criticism of all their music selections. Chloe didn’t mind it, though – drunk Beca was turning out to be pretty fun. The alcohol seemed to strip Beca of her outer defenses a bit, leaving behind a slightly goofier version of her friend that had many emotions and opinions.

“We’re here!” Beca announced excitedly, hopping out of the car and heading to the door of her building, swaying slightly as she rummaged through her bag to find keys. After a couple failed attempts to unlock the door, Chloe gently took the key from Beca’s hands and let them into the apartment complex, leading Beca up the stairs and into her apartment.

“Okay,” Chloe said, placing Beca’s keys on the kitchen counter. “Are you good?”

“I’m great!” Beca grinned at Chloe, leaning on the back of her couch.

“Alright. I guess I’ll head home, then—“

“What?” Beca’s eyes widened and she rushed forward, grabbing Chloe’s arm. “Why are you leaving?”

Chloe patted the hands that were gripping her forearm rather forcefully. “It’s late, Becs. We need to go to bed.”

“Well you can sleep _here._ Duh.” Beca glared at her, offended by Chloe’s attempt to leave.

“You want me to stay with you?”

“Yes!” Beca’s drunken smile came back as quickly as it had gone and she released Chloe.

“Um, alright. I can sleep on your couch, I guess.”

Beca rolled her eyes, grabbing Chloe’s hand and dragging her towards what she assumed to be the bedroom. “No.” Beca said. “You have to come cuddle me.”

Chloe couldn’t hold back her laugh at Beca’s words. “Did Beca Mitchell just ask me to cuddle with her?”

“What?” Beca spun around, an insulted look on her face. “I did not!”

“You literally just did, Becs.” Chloe grinned, looking at Beca fondly. Of course, Chloe was definitely not opposed to cuddling with Beca all night. In fact, that was probably the best thing she could think of doing at the moment. But the fact that Beca had straight up asked for it? That was probably the best part of the whole night so far.

Beca wasn’t enjoying it, though, glaring at Chloe with her bottom lip stuck out in a pout. “I’m drunk, Chloe. You’re not allowed to be mean to me.”

Chloe laughed again and reached out to grab Beca’s hand. “Okay, I’m sorry. No more being mean.” Beca grinned, satisfied with Chloe’s response, and opened up her bedroom door. It was a small room, the walls painted an odd light green color. There wasn’t much to the place besides Beca’s bed, dresser, and a closet on one side. “Do you have some pajamas I can borrow?” Chloe said, realizing that they were both still in their dresses and would need to change.

“Yeah.” Beca stumbled over to her dresser and dug around for a moment, eventually tossing some sweatpants and a t-shirt over to Chloe.

“I’m… uh, I’m going to go change in the bathroom.” Chloe said, backing out towards the living room once more.

“There’s an extra toothpaste!” Beca exclaimed, looking proud. “Or, uh… toothbrush! Under the sink?” Her look of pride shifted into an uncertainty, making Chloe laugh again.

“Okay, thanks. I’ll find it.”

She changed quickly – the sweatpants were a little short, but otherwise comfortable – and dug around Beca’s drawer until she found a packaged toothbrush, true to the DJ’s word. After brushing her teeth and washing off her make-up, she took a deep breath and walked back to the bedroom, hoping that Beca had finished changing.

And she had, luckily. Beca smiled at Chloe’s reappearance and then held up a finger, raising her eyebrows as if she was going to make a grand statement. “I’m going to brush _my_ teeth too. I am very responsible, you know.” She gave Chloe a smug smile and strutted out of the bathroom.

Chloe smiled to herself, pulling back the blankets in Beca’s bed and settling in. She liked this – being with domestic with Beca, sharing a bathroom and a bed. She knew it was just because Beca was a friendly drunk and this would probably never happen again, but for the moment it made her feel warm and complete as she snuggled in Beca’s blankets and surrounded herself with Beca’s scent.

After a moment, Beca also fell into the bed, wiggling around and then reaching up to turn the light out. Once the room was dark, Beca immediately moved towards Chloe, tucking herself against Chloe’s side. Her face was buried in Chloe’s shoulder and she took a long breath, as if breathing Chloe in.

“Goodnight, Becs.” Chloe said, wrapping her arms around Beca and gently stroking through dark locks of hair.

“Goodnight.” Beca whispered into Chloe’s shoulder. “Love you, Chlo.”

“Love you too.” Chloe responded easily, continuing to run her fingers through Beca’s hair. It wasn’t until she felt Beca’s breaths even out that the words started to rattle around in Chloe’s brain.

_Love you, Chlo._

What the hell did that mean?

* * *

Chloe entered Holy Grounds in a huff, rushing past the tables full of customers and heading directly to the counter to find Aubrey. After Chloe had left Beca’s apartment in the morning, she had done her best to keep busy at home and _not_ dwell on the things Beca said last night, but it only took a couple of hours before she officially could not hold it in any longer and needed to seek out her best friend.

“What are you doing here?” Aubrey said after handing back some change to a middle-aged woman. It was Chloe’s day off, and she usually stayed far away from the shop on those days.

“I’m going insane.” Chloe said urgently, waving a hand around her head for emphasis. “I need to rant to you or I am going to explode.”

“Okay,” Aubrey said warily, “But you can do it while you make this woman’s iced mocha.”

Chloe moved over to the espresso machine without much thought, filling a plastic cup with ice and fixing the woman’s drink as she started to explain her predicament to Aubrey. “I spent the night with Beca last night.”

“What?” Aubrey turned to look at Chloe with wide eyes, surprised.

“Not… like that. We just went to sleep together.” Chloe’s face reddened, even though she knew Aubrey understood that nothing sexual had happened between her and Beca.

“Okay…” Aubrey moved to the sink, turning on the water and starting to wash some of the mugs and dishes piled on the counter.

“I just… it was weird.” Chloe fit a lid onto the drink and set it on the counter, smiling to the woman on the other side before turning back to Aubrey. “I mean, it was weird because it _wasn’t_ weird.”

“Well, you guys are pretty close.” Aubrey shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess that’s what has me worked up. She, uh… she said ‘I love you’ last night.”

Aubrey looked up from the sink, one eyebrow raised. “Oh, did she? Are you two…”

“No.” Chloe sighed. “At least, I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure she meant it platonically.”

“And do you? Mean it platonically?”

Chloe shut her eyes for a moment, trying to tame the swirl of anxious emotions in her chest. “No.” She released a long breath of air through pursed lips, running a hand through her hair. “God, Bree, I don’t know. I think… I think I’m in love with her.” Chloe let out a dry laugh. “And I haven’t even known her for that long. It’s too early for me to even think that, isn’t it?”

Aubrey shut off the running water of the sink and turned around to fully face Chloe, her gaze soft as she looked upon her friend. “I don’t think so. Chloe, you’re a passionate person – that’s how you work. If you like something, you _really_ like it. I’m not surprised that you could fall in love with Beca in such a short amount of time.”

“I guess.” Chloe said, looking down. Her heart felt heavy in her chest, as if it couldn’t handle vocalizing these emotions. “I just haven’t felt this strongly about anyone in such a long time.”

“I know.” Aubrey reached out and grabbed Chloe’s hand. “Does she feel the same way about you?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? “I really can’t tell.” Chloe said, “It’s confusing. Like, we act like a couple sometimes, you know? We text each other goodnight every night and we hold hands and we cuddle on the couch. And now we say ‘I love you,’ I guess.” Chloe let out a quiet growl of frustration. “We _feel_ like a couple. But then, we’re not. Beca says something about how I’m her best friend, or I remember that I can’t actually kiss her goodbye, and then I realize we’re _not_ a couple, no matter how much it feels that way.”

“Yeah, you guys looked pretty cozy last night.” Aubrey said, frowning.

“We _were._ So sometimes, I think that maybe she does feel that way about me – maybe she wants it to be real just as much as I do.” Chloe shook her head. “I just don’t know.”

“What about that Jesse guy?”

Chloe smiled. “They’re not together, I asked.” Finding that out for certain had definitely taken a lot of Beca-induced anxiety off of Chloe’s back. It didn’t mean that Beca was in love with Chloe, of course, but it still felt like a victory in her book.

“Well,” Aubrey said, pulling Chloe’s attention back to the problem at hand, “I think you know what I’m going to say. You should talk to her about this.”

“I don’t even know what I would say.”

Aubrey rolled her eyes. “Oh please. Just tell her how you feel and ask her if she feels the same way.”

Aubrey made it sound so simple, as if the whole world _wouldn’t_ come crashing down if Beca reacted negatively to the conversation. “But, Bree… What if she doesn’t feel the same? She’s… She’s _so_ important to me. I don’t want to ruin our friendship just because I have a stupid crush.”

“It’s more than a stupid crush, Chlo. I think you know that.”

She was right, of course – Chloe’s feelings for Beca were not as simple as being attracted to a celebrity on the television or thinking that the neighbor guy had a cute smile. They were real, and complicated, and consuming. And they had the ability to crush Chloe’s heart.

“Yeah. I just… I’m scared.”

“I know.” Aubrey squeezed Chloe’s hand. “But I think it’s for the best – you’ll know, one way or another, where you two stand. I don’t think existing in this limbo in between is healthy for you.”

Chloe nodded, glancing around the room and letting her gaze fall on the table in the back corner – Beca’s table, empty now as it often was. Chloe took a deep breath. “Yeah,” She said, “I think you’re right. I’ll tell her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I had a lot of trouble with this chapter. It's times like these that remind me that I'm not /actually/ a writer, lol. Oh well, Bechloe is fun regardless. Please tell me what you think! And hit me up on tumblr @crazypitches.


	9. You Drove Us Off the Road

The conference room at Wooly Records was packed with the label’s producers, each of them buzzing with energy as they chatted quietly amongst themselves. Beca wasn’t sure what the commotion was about, as this was their regular weekly meeting – maybe they signed a new big name? She took a seat next to Luke near the back of the room, glancing at him questioningly as he grinned at her.

“What’s everyone so excited about?” Beca asked, watching her co-workers eager faces as they waited for the meeting to start.

Luke frowned. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Uh… no?” Beca must’ve missed some important memo; there was clearly something happening that she had missed out on.

“Seriously, Becs. You have to pay better attention.”

Beca rolled her eyes. “Well, are you going to tell me, or what?”

“Grammy nominations came out this morning.” Luke said, satisfied when Beca immediately sat up straight in attention. “We’ve got a bunch of producers nominated this year.”

“Oh.” Beca said, a small smile stretching across her face. “That’s awesome.”

Beca turned to the front of the conference room as their boss walked in. She hadn’t realized that Grammy nominations were being announced that morning – she knew she wouldn’t be up for any, but she hadn’t considered the fact that some of her coworkers were the types of people to get nominated for these huge awards. A lot of them were, apparently. Beca made a note to check who actually got nominated for what as Jackson started addressing the group.

“Hey everybody,” He said, smiling wide. “Let’s have a big hand for all of us who were nominated!” A light applause struck up around the room, some people giving friendly shoves to some of the producers in the front. “I’m really proud of the work we’ve all done here,” Jackson continued, “And you all deserve a great deal of recognition for what you do. That goes for those of you who _weren’t_ talented enough to get a nomination.” He grinned slyly as Beca and her coworkers all gave an obligatory chuckle at their boss’s joke.

“I actually have some more great news regarding the Grammys,” Jackson said, his eyes flashing with excitement about whatever he was going to reveal. “Because I am the greatest boss ever, I managed to get all of you invited to the ceremony.”

Beca blinked as some of the people around her murmured in surprise. Invited to the Grammys? Is that what Jackson was saying? Because while Beca didn’t really put much stock in awards shows like this, actually being invited to one was still kind of a huge deal.

“So our whole production staff is going to be there to support those of us with nominations, who will be on the main floor. The rest of you will be up on the balcony.” Jackson snickered. “So you’ll have to support us from afar. But still, you’ll be around some of the best in the industry, of course. Bring your A-game. Oh, and bring a plus-one. Because I am _awesome_ and I arranged for all of you to bring a guest as well.”

The excitement level around the room increased considerably, everyone grinning at the news that they could bring their significant others to the show. Beca, however, felt somewhat nervous about the pressure of bringing someone along to the Grammys – it’s not like she had a boyfriend or girlfriend that would automatically tag along. She could go by herself, she supposed, but that would be just as nerve-racking; at least if she brought someone, she could use them as a social crutch if she felt overwhelmed by all the big names that would surround her at the awards show.

While Beca may not have the default companion like a significant other, she did know immediately who she would want to bring. Chloe would be the perfect friend to take along to something like this – she was charismatic and beautiful, likely to blend in perfectly with the celebrity crowd, but she was also Beca’s best friend and she would stick by Beca’s side throughout the show.

Beca felt slightly guilty that she wanted to bring Chloe instead of the more obvious choice in companion: Amy. She _had_ promised to deliver Amy unto the flashing lights and flowing booze that came with celebrity, but Beca knew that as soon as she did, she probably wouldn’t see Amy for the rest of the night. It wasn’t as if she needed someone to walk her through the awards ceremony like a child, but the Grammys were kind of a big deal and Beca figured that her first time attending such an event would probably be stressful. It would help to have someone with her that would actually _be_ with her.

And besides, Beca could picture just how Chloe’s face would light up when Beca asked her to tag along – Chloe would be _so_ excited, and when Chloe was that happy, Beca couldn’t help but be kind of happy too.

 Jackson finished speaking and clapped his hands together with a sense of finality, smiling pleasantly as his crew of producers rose from their chairs around the table and headed off to work. Beca, for her part, had no idea what Jackson had been saying. She already knew what she would be doing that day, though, so she didn’t worry much as she made her way to her desk. She had a little time before Emily would arrive for their session, so she fished her phone out of her pocket and wrote out a text to her favorite redheaded barista.

_Beca Mitchell: Hey are you free tonight? I have some good news_

Beca checked the time on her phone as she sent the text, noting that Chloe would be at the coffee shop already by this time of morning. Regardless, Beca kept her phone on top of her desk, knowing that Chloe sometimes carried her phone while doing office work and other “boring” administrative tasks. This assumption was accurate, apparently, as a text came through just a few minutes later.

_Chloe Beale: ????? Tell me!!_

Beca grinned. Of course Chloe would insist on hearing “good news” right away. She was slightly surprised that Chloe hadn’t called Beca immediately, demanding information.

_Beca Mitchell: No way. Tonight?_

_Chloe Beale: You are evil. :’(_

_Beca Mitchell: Sorry dear <3_

After pressing send, Beca couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the heart emoji she had just sent to Chloe. Since when was she one to use something so ridiculous while trying to communicate? Beca blamed it on Chloe’s tendency to overuse the images – especially the hearts. And Beca _was_ quite fond of her best friend; it didn’t hurt to show that in the form of a tiny purple heart. It’s not like Beca was all that affectionate in other ways, and she was pretty sure that Chloe really enjoyed it when Beca used emojis.

But here she was, analyzing her own use of emojis, of all things. Chloe Beale had really done a number on her. Beca grinned stupidly, shaking her head, as she looked down at Chloe’s next text.

_Chloe Beale: It’s okay I GUESS. <3_

_Chloe Beale: I’ll come by after work!_

_Beca Mitchell: Sounds good. See you then_

_Chloe Beale: :)_

Beca leaned back in her swivel chair with a smile, stretching her arms out above her head. It would be good to hang out with Chloe that night – they hadn’t seen each other since the morning after Stacie’s birthday party, when they had woken up snuggled together in Beca’s bed.

If it were anyone else, Beca would be horrified about their situation that Saturday morning. Beca wasn’t one to cuddle with people at all, let alone all night long. And Chloe had insisted that Beca had basically forced her to crawl into bed, and while Beca _did_ vaguely remember this through the drunken haze of that evening, she still denied it profusely as Chloe continued giggling while they ate breakfast together.

Beca also remembered that she had told Chloe she loved her. She wasn’t terribly surprised that those words had slipped out while Beca was drunk – Chloe was her very best friend, and Beca had more fondness for the redhead than maybe any other person in her life at the moment. So it really _wasn’t_ a big deal that Beca had said “I love you” and Chloe had easily repeated it – no big deal at all, which should have been a surprise to Beca. But it wasn’t. As always, things with Chloe were comfortable. Easy.

And it would be nice to see her that evening, to invite her to the Grammys and spend time hanging out with friend, whom she definitely loved.

* * *

Chloe felt like she was going to be sick as she grabbed her purse out of the Holy Grounds back office. Her shift had just ended and she was ready to go meet Beca at her apartment, but the thought of seeing the DJ again had Chloe’s stomach twisting and swirling in a way that made Chloe worry that she would soon be puking up all the coffee she had consumed that day.

She rarely experienced nerves like this – from a young age, Chloe had learned to embrace fear and awkwardness, to take every scary moment and turn it into an adventure. She felt comfortable on stage, she loved talking to new people, she got a thrill out of facing her fears. There was very little in the world that could make Chloe Beale anxious.

Telling Beca her feelings?  Apparently, that made the list.

For the last three days, since she had left Beca’s apartment on Saturday morning, Chloe’s head had echoed with Beca’s voice. _Love you, Chlo._ It was simple, innocent – three words drunkenly said that probably meant _nothing._ But even so, they made Chloe’s heart feel full to bursting and made her stomach squeeze in anxiety of what was to come.

Aubrey had been right, it was time to tell Beca that she was… what, exactly? Should Chloe dive right in, tell Beca that she loved her? Like, _actually_ loved her? An admission like that was probably a little much for Beca – she didn’t know what Beca’s feelings would be like, but Chloe didn’t think that jumping from a platonic “I love you” to “hi I’m in love with you let’s get married and spend our lives together” would really work out all that well. Breaking it gently would probably be the best way to make Beca understand without sending her running in the other direction.

Besides, Beca apparently had some news of her own to share. Chloe had no idea what this would be – another fact that was driving her wild at that moment – but she figured she should let Beca go first in the order of giant reveals that would happen that night. Regardless of how Beca responded to Chloe’s feelings, it would probably be a bit of a conversation-stopper. And, just _maybe,_ the news Beca had was related to the two of them. _Maybe_ Beca was going to tell Chloe that they were obviously in love and should stop ignoring it.

Yeah, probably not. But a girl could hope.

“Are you going to Beca’s?” Aubrey was leaning against the coffee counter as Chloe came out of the office. She had arrived for her shift a couple of hours earlier, and would be closing the café for the night.

Chloe took a deep breath, raising her eyebrows. “I am.”

“And you’re going to finally tell her?”

She let out the air with a huff, a slight frown on her face. “Yeah. I am.” Aubrey’s face softened. “I’m really scared, Bree.”

Aubrey took a few steps forward, grabbing Chloe’s shoulders firmly and looking her right in the eyes, pep-talk mode activated. “You can do this, Chloe.” She said, her voice gentle but serious. “It will be okay, no matter what happens. But for the record, I’m pretty certain that Beca loves you too.”

Chloe gave a tiny nod, feeling heat sting at her eyes. She blinked away the beginnings of tears, telling herself that if she started crying about it _now_ there was no way she would make it through the conversation with Beca. “I hope you’re right.”

“I always am.” Aubrey said with a grin, releasing Chloe and giving her a gentle shove towards the front door. “Good luck.”

* * *

The door to Beca’s apartment was locked when Chloe arrived. She had taken to simply walking into the place when she was expected – no need to bother Beca to get up when they’re just going to end up slumped on the couch together anyway. She did not, however, have a key. That may have been a tad bit too domestic, even for them. So Chloe knocked on the door, three sharp raps, and waited for Beca to let her in.

As soon as the door opened with a creak, Chloe stepped into Beca’s space and wrapped her in a tight hug, as was their usual greeting. Beca smiled against Chloe’s shoulder, wrapping her arms comfortably around Chloe’s back and returning the embrace with equal warmth.

“Hey, Chlo.” Beca said, finally pulling back from the hug and grinning up at her friend. “It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen you.”

 “It’s only been three days.” Chloe grinned, “But yeah, I agree.”  Beca rolled her eyes and turned towards the kitchen, and Chloe stopped to notice the sweet aroma filling the apartment. “Oh my god, you cooked?”

Beca leveled a glare straight at Chloe, though it didn’t hold much weight when paired with the slight smile on her lips. “Yes. I _can_ cook, you know.”

“Well you’ve literally never cooked for me before…” Chloe eyed the dish on the stove suspiciously. It was a stir fry, chicken, vegetables, and rice mixed together with a tangy brown sauce. It looked edible. “What’s the occasion?”

Beca laughed lightly, grabbing bowls and scooping out portions of the stir fry for each of them. “Oh, please. Don’t try to be casual about it, I know you’re dying to hear what my news is.”

Chloe let out an indignant huff. “I was _trying_ to be polite. But since you’re so rude; yes, I want to know what it is. Tell me!” She pouted at Beca, sticking out her lower lip and putting on the best puppy dog face she could muster. Beca just stared at her for a moment, trying to resist, and then sighed and handed Chloe’s food over, heading to the living room.

“Okay, okay.” She said, plopping down on the cushions and taking a huge bite of her food, making sure to chew agonizingly slowly. “Hey, this isn’t half bad.”

“I’m sure it’s great,” Chloe said, stabbing a piece of chicken with her fork, “Now tell me what your news is!”

Beca smiled slyly. “Fine.” She took a deep breath, as if preparing to drop a bomb of information at Chloe’s feet. Chloe couldn’t tell if Beca was still messing with her or if this would in fact be a shocking piece of information -- she was a little worried to find out, that churning feeling in her stomach still very much present. Beca took pity on her, thanks to Chloe’s wide puppy dog eyes, she assumed, and grinned excitedly as she began to speak. “Grammy nominations were announced today.”

Chloe’s mouth fell open comically wide, her eyes nearly bulging out of her head as she repeatedly slapped the couch cushion next to her, unable to find words for a moment. “Oh my god! Are you nominated?!”

Beca rolled her eyes, laughing. “No, stupid.” Chloe’s face of excitement changed to one of offense – both at being called stupid and at the fact that Beca hadn’tbeen nominated for a Grammy. Because she deserved _all_ the Grammys. “Flashlight was just released, like, a couple months ago. Besides, it’s not Grammy material.” Chloe scoffed at this, but before she could launch into a full explanation of just why Beca’s song should win every award imaginable, Beca held up a hand to silence her. “But there _is_ still exciting news. My boss scored invitations to the show for all the producers at the label.”

“No way!” Chloe said, her excitement back in a flash. “You get to go, even though you’re not nominated? Beca, that’s so cool! You’ll be with all the people on the radio! Because you _are_ a person on the radio!”

Beca grinned, shoveling another forkful of food into her mouth and swallowing before continuing. “There’s more, actually.”

“Oh my god, you get to perform at the Grammys, don’t you?” Chloe gasped, hitting Beca on the knee in her excitement.

“Ugh, Chloe, no.” Beca leaned away, as if Chloe’s eager flailing might separate one of her limbs from her body. “You’re thinking too big. It’s not _that_ cool.”

“Okay, but one day it will be.” Chloe said, smiling wide. She had no doubt that Beca would soon be the star of every music awards show – attending her first Grammys was just the start.

“Whatever.” Beca rolled her eyes, never able to accept Chloe’s compliments all that well. “Do you want to hear the rest of my news or not?”

“Yes, sorry!”

“Okay.” Beca paused dramatically, smirking as Chloe’s eyes widened. “My boss got invitations for all of us, but he also got enough so that we could all bring a plus-one.”

“Oh, sweet!” Chloe said, leaning back onto the armrest of the couch. “Are you taking Emily?”

“No – I had a session with her today; she said she actually got an invitation as well.”  

“Oh, cool!” Chloe’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Amy, then?”

Beca laughed, shaking her head slightly. “No, Beale. I’m going to take you. If you want to come, that is.”

Chloe nearly leapt off of the couch, Beca rushing forward to save the bowl of food before it got flung across the living room. Chloe couldn’t help it though, because Beca wanted to take _her_ to the _Grammys?_ She let out a squeal that Beca probably couldn’t stand and flung herself forwards to wrap her arms around Beca’s neck. It was an awkward position, with Beca holding both of their bowls of food, but Chloe didn’t really care as she grinned into Beca’s neck and squeezed her friend in excitement.

“I’ll take that as a yes?” Beca said, gently extricating herself from Chloe’s hold.

“Are you _serious?_ ” Chloe leaned back and stared at Beca, unsure if this situation was actually real or if she was having an incredibly vivid dream. “You really want to take me to the Grammys with you?”

Beca’s face softened and she gave Chloe a small smile. “Of course I do, Chlo. There’s no one I’d rather have there with me.”

Chloe’s chest felt like it was going to explode with all of the warm pressure that suddenly built there and she could feel her cheeks ache slightly from the sheer width of her smile. “Beca, you are… you are the best person in the world.”

A scoff and an eye roll were the only expected response to that statement, and that’s exactly what Chloe got. Beca handed back Chloe’s food and captured a piece of broccoli on her own fork. “The show’s not for a couple months, so we have time to find clothes and whatever.”

Clothes for the _Grammys._ It suddenly hit Chloe exactly what Beca had asked her to do – Chloe, a barista (okay, more than that, a small business owner) who got excited about the simple fact that she lived in the same _city_ as celebrities, was going to be in the same _room_ as so many of them in one night. Even though Chloe Beale rarely got nervous about anything, attending the Grammy Awards was definitely being added to the list.

Right next to telling Beca how she really feels, which was still on the agenda for the night.

Chloe decided to wait a while, letting the excitement of their Grammys invitations carry them throughout their meal. A meal that was surprisingly good, Chloe thought. “You really should cook for me more often.” She said as she polished off the last of the stir fry and rose from the couch, grabbing Beca’s bowl and heading to the dishwasher.

“Unfortunately, stir fry is one of, like, three meals that I can actually cook.”

Chloe returned to the couch, settling in with one leg tucked underneath her. “Well, you have to feed me the other two, at least.”

“Will do.” Beca said. “Uh, you wanna watch Grey’s Anatomy or something?”

If they started in on a TV show – especially Grey’s, which Beca had developed a hilarious sort of obsession with – Chloe knew that she would never get around to actually having that serious conversation with Beca. She almost agreed, knowing that sinking against Beca’s shoulder and watching doctors save people’s lives would be much easier than putting her feelings on the line and potentially ruining the whole night. And ruining much more, really, if things went wrong.

But sitting here, looking at Beca, Chloe didn’t really think that things would go wrong. Beca watched her with soft eyes and a soft smile, the sort of expression that Chloe knew Beca never used with anyone else. Chloe also suspected that Beca didn’t go around saying “love you” to people like Amy and Jesse – and she had invited _Chloe_ to the Grammys, which was a huge freaking deal in Chloe’s book.

Really, Chloe had no doubt that she was special to Beca. Probably just as special as Beca was to her. And once they could both admit it, if they could actually act on these feelings that had been lying underneath every interaction for months, they could be something special _together._

So it was time, Chloe decided.

“Actually, Becs,” Chloe said, leaning forward slightly, “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Beca shifted in her seat so that she was facing Chloe more fully. “What’s up?”

And this was the tricky part, wasn’t it? Chloe hadn’t actually considered what she would say, apart from “breaking it gently.” Looking at Beca’s questioning face now, Chloe really wished that she had a speech typed out that she could read from.

“Okay. Well…” Chloe bit her lip, her eyes not leaving Beca’s. “You’re really important to me, Becs.”

Beca gave a soft smile, but she looked confused. “You’re important to me too, Chlo.”

Chloe shook her head. “No, I know… I just mean, like…” She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to collect her thoughts. Tap into that infallible Beale confidence, face this challenge head on like any other.

This wasn’t a challenge like any other, though – this was Beca, looking at her now with a slightly concerned expression.

“Okay,” Chloe repeated, taking a deep breath, “Beca, I’m in love with you.”

Oh. Apparently she was ripping off the band-aid, without really meaning to. So much for being gentle with that reveal.

Chloe looked up at Beca and felt her heart sink at what she saw: Beca was stock still, frozen with a terrified look in her eyes. She didn’t even look like she was breathing, much less responding to Chloe’s admission. A huge lump began to take up residence in Chloe’s throat as she got the feeling that she had just made a very horrible mistake.

“Becs?”

Beca blinked three times, her gaze darting around the room, landing everywhere but Chloe’s face. “Uh, you… what?”

Chloe tried to ignore the crushing feeling in her chest. “Um, I have feelings for you. And I… I thought maybe, you had feelings for me too?” She felt like a child in that moment, blatantly asking Beca if she liked her back. She may as well have sent Beca a valentine and had her check “yes, no, maybe.” Maybe that would’ve gotten more of response than she was getting right now, as Beca stared at the space above Chloe’s head with a blank expression.

“Chloe,” She started, finally shifting her gaze to look into Chloe’s eyes. The look that she found there wasn’t exactly comforting. “You’re my best friend.”

“You’re my best friend, too.” Chloe said, her voice breaking just slightly. She hoped with everything she had that the conversation wasn’t about to go where she thought it was going.

“I’m… I’m so sorry, Chlo.”

It felt like the ceiling had just come crashing down around Chloe. She could swear she heard a buzzing in her ears as Beca spoke, like a distant siren blaring at the fatal mistake Chloe had made in opening her damn mouth.

Beca’s face was unbearably soft, looking at Chloe with sadness. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”

Chloe felt the tears build up behind her eyes and she looked away from Beca, willing them not to fall. “How… how could you not?”

Beca was silent for a moment. “I, uh. I don’t know. I guess… I understand. But I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t…” Chloe couldn’t bring herself to say the words, but as she looked up at Beca she knew that she didn’t have to. “We... we act like a couple. Like, all the time.” Chloe pleaded. In the back of her mind she realized that this was probably considered begging and she was just making a bigger fool out of herself than she already had, but she wanted to understand. She _needed_ to understand where exactly she had gone wrong.

“Yeah, I…” Beca bit her lip. She looked distressed and Chloe vaguely felt guilty for making Beca feel that way. “I guess we do. I didn’t… I’m so sorry if I led you along or something, I didn’t mean to—“

“It didn’t mean anything to you?”

“What?” Beca blinked hard, reaching out to grab Chloe’s hand. “Chloe, you mean everything to me. You know that.” She swallowed hard. “I love you, Chloe, I do. Just… not in that way.”

And there it was: the concrete words, the solid confirmation that Chloe had made a terrible mistake. She jerked her hand back form Beca’s on impulse as she felt the tears begin to make their hot, sticky way down her face. She stood up, then, looking around the apartment but not really seeing it – not really seeing anything through the fuzz of _not in that way._

“I – I should leave.” Chloe grabbed her bag off the purse mindlessly and began walking to the door, only to be stopped when Beca grabbed her arm again.

“No, you don’t have to leave. Stay.” Beca’s eyes looked glassy, too, though Chloe wasn’t really sure if that was from unshed tears or if Chloe’s mind was just seeing what it wanted to see.

“I _need_ to leave, Beca.”

Beca dropped her hand as if it were a hot iron, looking as if Chloe had just slapped her across the face. “Chlo.” Chloe looked up into Beca’s deep blue eyes and felt sick. “Chloe, we’re still going to be friends, right?” She sounded small in that moment, looking terrified. “I… I can’t lose you, Chlo. I mean it when I say you mean everything to me.”

Those words stung like acid, causing a fresh set of tears to well up in Chloe’s eyes. She meant _everything_ to Beca, sure – everything but _that._

“I just… need some time, Beca.” Chloe swallowed hard, the lump in her throat having grown to the size of a mountain and making it hard for Chloe to even breathe at this point. She turned to the door.

“Okay,” Beca said softly, “Okay.” Chloe turned the knob and stepped out of the doorway without another word. She wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her shirt, desperately trying to stop the flow of tears and runny mascara as she sped down the stairs of Beca’s apartment.

She gave up on that pursuit as soon as she reached her car, throwing open the door and sliding into the driver’s seat just as the sobs began to come in full force. She slumped forward, her head against the steering wheel, eyes squeezed shut and mouth open as silent sobs wracked her body.

It had happened so quickly, like realizing you were driving on black ice and sliding head on into oncoming traffic. Chloe wasn’t sure she had even understood exactly what had happened in those few minutes, and she certainly didn’t understand what had happened in the last two months that had led her so astray.

She had fallen in love with her best friend, and despite all the hoping and overanalyzing and daydreaming, her best friend didn’t feel the same way.

Chloe wasn’t sure how long she had been sitting there in the car, and she was even less sure how long she would have to remain before she could pull herself together enough to drive. For the moment, at least, Chloe was alone with her tears melting against the leather of the steering wheel, her head swirling with one thought over and over and over.

_Beca doesn’t love you. Not the way you want her to._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come talk to me on tumblr @crazypitches


	10. Every Time I Don't, I Almost Do

Beca’s fist collided with the wall in a loud smack and the force of the punch reverberated through her knuckles and up into her wrist, causing her to hiss in pain as she pulled her hand away. “ _Fuck._ ” She spat, examining her pulsing hand and seeing that two of her knuckles had split open from her aggressive outburst, blood oozing slowly and threatening to fall onto the carpet of her living room floor.

“Fuck fuck _fuck._ ” Beca shook her hand out, hoping that some of the throbbing pain could be flicked away like water off her fingertips. It wasn’t, though, and Beca mentally kicked herself as she went to the kitchen to clean up her hand. After running her knuckles under water and patting the wound dry with a paper towel, she dug out a couple of band-aids and, after the supreme struggle of applying them with her left hand, bandaged the cuts.

Beca wasn’t sure why she had punched the wall, but she had to admit that it was satisfying, apart from the pain that would probably linger for a few hours. She resumed her pacing around the living room, feeling just as agitated as she had before she went to war on the wall.

“Fucking fuck.”

That had been pretty much the entire content of Beca’s brain for the last thirty minutes, since Beca had watched her front door close in her face and her best friend walk out in a storm of tears. What else was there for Beca to do but curse herself, over and over and over? Well, she could punch the wall again, try to let loose a little more of this overwhelming emotion she was feeling, but her hand really hurt and she thought that Chloe would probably yell at her for punching a wall if she were here.

And god, did Beca wish that she was.

Beca went into her bedroom and collapsed face down on the bed, not really caring that the tears had finally started to find their way from behind her eyes to the fabric of her pillowcase, collecting in warm splotches of moisture.

“I really fucked up.”

Because Chloe _loved_ her. Like, really fucking loved her. Like, was _in love_ with her.

Like, what?    

It really had taken Beca by surprise – Chloe had blindsided her with the sudden confession and maybe Beca should have handled it differently or more gently or _something_ because she did not mean to make Chloe cry and leave but _what the fuck Chloe is in love with her?_

Lying there, her hands twisted into fists around her comforter (despite the stinging of her right hand), Beca supposed that it kind of made sense. Chloe had said it herself – they act like a couple pretty much all the time. All the cuddling, the texting each other goodnight, the long glances when they were out with friends, the declarations of “you’re my favorite person” and “why are you so great” and “I love you.”

Yeah, it made sense. 

Beca didn’t mean to lead Chloe on, not for one second. She hadn’t even realized what their behavior actually looked like, that she might be sending some really confusing messages to her best friend. She hadn’t even considered it a possibility.

Because things with Chloe had always been just effortless, easy. Comfortable. Beca was always comfortable with Chloe, so after giving in to the inevitability of their friendship, Beca hadn’t spent much time analyzing it. She loved being around Chloe, she felt safe when Chloe held her and felt understood when Chloe listened to her.

But was she in love with her?

Beca had told Chloe that she wasn’t, that she didn’t think of Chloe in that way and that Chloe was her _best friend_ and nothing more than that. And that was the truth, right?

Beca growled into her pillow, squeezing her fists tighter around the blankets and trying to push away the tears that were still somehow falling. She couldn’t understand why she was so emotional about this – she felt like a teenager on her period who had just been publicly humiliated _and_ told that she couldn’t go to the senior prom. Or something. She couldn’t even determine what exactly she was feeling, just that it was _so much_ and Beca wanted it _gone._

Perhaps she was just upset because she had upset Chloe. It had torn something open inside Beca to see Chloe’s face crack like it had, to see her eyes fill with so much hurt and so many tears. She had never wanted to hurt Chloe like that – in fact, what she wanted most at that moment was to wrap Chloe in her arms and hold on forever and ever until the world crumbled down around them.

But she couldn’t do that, because Chloe needed _some time._ And that, probably, was the main reason that Beca was a mess. She couldn’t stand the thought of losing her best friend and she was terrified that needing some time would equate to not talking to Beca for weeks, months, _ever._ Beca honestly didn’t know if she could survive that.

She needed Chloe in her life – that was indisputable. Chloe meant the world to Beca, as she had tried so desperately to explain just an hour ago. When Beca stopped to consider it, she realized how pathetically true that was – in the short time they had known each other, Chloe had somehow made her way to the very center of Beca’s life. She was the first thing Beca thought of in the morning, the last person she wanted to talk to every night. She was in Beca’s dreams, both those that filled her mind in sleep and those dreams of the future that Beca concocted herself. Whenever Chloe was by Beca’s side, she felt whole. With Chloe, she could be everything that she was without fear of judgement or misunderstanding, knowing that Chloe will be there to lift her up when she was down with a laugh and a hug. Chloe was everywhere in Beca’s life.

And fuck, was this what it was like to be in love?

Beca felt like she was going to explode with the amount of conflicted feelings in her head and the suffocating feeling in her chest. Because, like, she _didn’t_ love Chloe that way. She couldn’t – Chloe was her best fucking friend and that’s exactly what Beca needed her to be.

Chloe was her _really beautiful_ best friend who had photoshopped eyes and a smile that could blind you even when your eyes were closed. But anybody could see that – Beca would have to be a complete idiot to not freely admit that Chloe was the most gorgeous woman she had ever seen. That didn’t mean there was anything but friendly feelings there. You can find your best friend attractive, that’s completely normal.

Right?

Beca sighed, sitting up in bed and staring at the wall across from her with dead eyes. Regardless of Beca’s feelings for Chloe (which were definitely _not_ confused, not at all), Beca had really hurt her friend, and knowing that made Beca’s stomach twist and her throat feel thick. Chloe deserved all the happiness in the world. Why the hell would she be in love with Beca, of all people? She deserved someone better, someone more – someone who could give her everything and love her with everything they had.

Beca’s heart hurt, imagining that someone.

Unable to keep her thoughts inside her own head any longer (lest she start punching walls again), Beca got up and went in search of her phone. Finding it on the couch, left there after the conversation that had possibly ruined _everything,_ Beca grabbed it and stared at her lock screen for a moment. It was a picture of her and Chloe that the redhead had set as her background after stealing Beca’s phone a couple weeks ago. Chloe had snapped the photo when Beca wasn’t paying attention, capturing Beca mid-laugh while Chloe looked at her with sparkling blue eyes.

In hindsight, Beca really should’ve been able to tell that Chloe had feelings. No one looks at a platonic friend with that _much_ in their gaze.

With a sigh, Beca unlocked her phone and scrolled through her contacts. She would normally call Chloe when upset, but that was obviously off the table, so she found Amy’s name and held her phone to her ear, waiting.

“How’s my favorite sugar daddy?” Amy’s voice came on the other end, chipper as always.

“Hey, Amy.” Beca bit her lip, not quite able to explain that she needed help. “Uh, are you busy?”

“Well, I was going to go to a bar and pick up some men.”

Beca blinked. “It’s Monday night.”

“Eh. Did you need something? I can go on the prowl any day of the week.”

“Um, yeah… I was wondering if you could come over?” Beca swallowed, uncomfortable. “I just… need someone to talk to.”

“Uh…” Amy sounded just as confused as Beca felt. “Why are you asking me? Isn’t Chloe your girl for this kind of thing?”

“Well, it’s kind of about Chloe.”

“Ah.” Amy said. “Say no more. Trouble in the lesbi-paradise.”

“What?”

“You and the ginge? You had a lovers’ quarrel, didn’t you?”

Beca pinched the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut. “Amy, we’re not ‘lovers.’ Can you just… help me? Please?”

Amy was quiet for a moment. She must have sensed Beca’s mood through that statement, because her response was simple and very un-Amy-like. “Sure thing. I’ll be over in a few.”

* * *

It took more time than Beca had expected for Amy to finally arrive at the apartment. When the knock came at the front door, Beca called her in without getting up, unwilling to move from her new moping spot on the couch. The door opened and Amy shuffled through, a sheepish look on her face.

“What?” Beca said, frowning. The girl was capable of anything, and Beca didn’t really want to deal with her oddities right now.

“Um…” Amy looked guilty as she stepped into the room. “I brought some back up.”

Beca leveled a harsh glare at Amy. She was _not_ in the mood to handle unexpected guests – she didn’t even really want to talk to Amy right now, but she was desperate. Anyone else was certainly unwelcome in her apartment. “Who?”

As if on cue, Jesse stepped through the doorway and raised an uncertain hand in greeting. “Uh, hey, Becs.”

Beca closed her eyes for a moment. “Why, Amy?” She didn’t want to be rude, but _dammit Amy._ Jesse was her friend and Amy probably could have done much worse, but still.

“I just…” Amy paused, clearly trying to find a way to avoid the question. But the irritation was radiating off of Beca in waves, and Amy quickly caught wind of it and answered honestly. “I didn’t know how serious this stuff with Chloe was going to be, and well… Jesse’s like, your number one fan.”

“What?” Beca wasn’t really sure what that meant and Jesse looked a little confused as well.

Amy rolled her eyes. “Jesse’s always going on about the lesbian-ing that you and Chloe get done together, you know? He like… wants to write the romance novel of your life or something.”

“Uh, ew.” Beca said, frowning at Jesse.

“That’s, uh—“ Jesse looked uncomfortable. “That’s a totally weird exaggeration. You know that.”

Beca leaned back in the couch and sighed. “Whatever, I don’t care.”

“Ouch.” Amy stage-whispered, taking a seat on the couch while Jesse made his way to the other armchair in the room. “So you’re like, _really_ bummed out.”

“What happened to your hand?” Jesse asked.

Beca had almost forgotten about her battle with the wall earlier – the pain in her hand had dulled to a steady throbbing and she had ignored it in favor of feeling the emotions in her head. Looking at it now, she could see why Jesse looked so concerned – the skin around the bandages had turned a blotchy purple color, and her pinky knuckle was fairly swollen.

“I, uh…” Beca didn’t really know what to say – punching a wall was so _juvenile._ “Nothing, just… fell.”

Amy raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying Beca’s story, but neither of them decided to argue with her. Which was just as well, because Beca was about ready to kick them out of the apartment already. Even though she had invited them here. Well, invited _Amy_ here. Whatever.

“Okay….” Amy drew the word out in hesitation. “Well, what happened with the redhead?”

Looking at her friends now, Beca really didn’t want to talk about it. She mostly wanted to make Jesse and Amy leave and then curl up under her blankets and stay there forever, blissful in her avoidance of all the negative and scary feelings that were in her head right now. But Jesse and Amy probably wouldn’t let her off that easy, and Beca knew that they shouldn’t. So, after letting out a long breath through pursed lips, Beca tried to explain.

“I kind of…” Beca started, her words soft and unsteady, “Uh, some stuff happened. And I… like, hurt her. Or whatever.”

“Um, you’re gonna need to elaborate there, Becs.” Amy’s light tone was paired with an uncharacteristically concerned face as she waited intently for Beca to explain.

“She, uh. She told me she’s in love with me.”

Jesse’s face split in a huge, shit-eating grin as he held out a hand that Amy high-fived with a whoop. Beca glared at them, waiting to finish their _totally inappropriate_ reaction to her news. They noticed Beca’s less-than-pleased demeanor after a moment and looked back at her somewhat guiltily, Jesse clearing his throat and wringing his hands.

“Right. So…” Jesse glanced at Amy and then continued, “I’m guessing that didn’t go so well, since we’re here and she’s not.”

Beca couldn’t really believe that her friends weren’t more surprised by her confession – of course they had been teasing her about having “lesbi-feelings” towards her best friend, but surely they didn’t actually know?

“No, it didn’t go well,” She spat, letting the full force of her agitation seep into her words. Jesse flinched as if he had been slapped, but Beca didn’t really have room in her head to feel guilty about it. “And what the fuck? Did you guys know that she felt that way?”

Amy shot a sidelong glance towards Jesse, mumbling something unintelligible. Jesse finally spoke up, an apologetic smile on his face. “Well, you guys… you weren’t exactly subtle, you know?”

“We weren’t _subtle?_ ” Beca couldn’t really believe what she was hearing – she had honestly thought all the jokes about her and Chloe were just her friends being obnoxious. “Jesse, I didn’t know she felt that way.”

Amy blinked. “Are you kidding?”

“No, I’m not fucking kidding.” Amy held her hands up in surrender, muttering something under her breath that Beca didn’t bother to catch.

“Uh,” Jesse said, “So, what happened?”

Beca closed her eyes for a moment. “Well, I was completely surprised when she said that. So I… well, I didn’t have a good way to let her down easy.”

“Let her down?” Amy said, looking confused. “Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” Beca shook her head, as if it should be obvious. “Because I’m not in love with her.”

“You’re… not?” Beca was ready to smack Amy. Why had she asked her to come over again?

She considered Amy’s words, however, and suddenly remembered exactly why she needed her friends there that moment. Because she was confused, no matter the amount of justification or the number of excuses that she kept chanting over and over in her head. Did she love Chloe? That was really the question, wasn’t it? She thought the answer was clear, but… here she was, feeling like she would rather rip out her eyes than answer Amy’s question.

“I’m…” Beca’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I don’t know.”

“You told her you weren’t, though.” Jesse stated, his eyes gentle as he watched Beca.

“Yeah. She’s like, really upset. Obviously.”

“But you don’t… you don’t know if you have feelings for her?” Jesse looked scared, as if he were worried that the prodding would cause Beca to retreat. It was a reasonable fear, for sure, but Beca grit her teeth and forced herself to respond.

“Yeah, I just… she’s Chloe. You know? She’s…” Beca hesitated, unsure of how she could accurately describe what Chloe was by using words – stupid, pointless words that failed her time and time again. “She’s my best friend, but she’s more than that, too. And I don’t know… I don’t know if that means I have feelings for her that are like… _romantic,_ or if I just, you know, really love her? As a friend?”

Amy looked skeptical. “Beca, you’re in love with Chloe.” Jesse and Beca both shot twin glares in Amy’s direction, but she shrugged and continued. “You are. I see it every time you talk about her. Everybody sees it. Like Jesse said, you’re not subtle. Maybe you didn’t realize it before, but you love that girl.”

Beca was silent for a moment, turning Amy’s words over in her head. The thought made her sick to her stomach, but she had to admit there was a _chance_ that Amy could be right. But what did that change, really? Chloe was still upset, their relationship was still in jeopardy. Throwing Beca’s feelings into the ring would just make things more complicated and probably cause even more problems.

“It doesn’t matter.” Beca said after some time. “I… I think maybe I do.” She cleared her throat. “Love her. In that way. _Maybe._ ” Beca tensed as her friends both broke out into wide smiles. “But it doesn’t _matter._ ”

“How on earth would that not matter?” Jesse said.

“Chloe is important. Too important for all this bullshit.” Beca blinked hard, balling her hands into fists and ignoring the resulting throbbing from her injured hand. “I can’t… I don’t do relationships. They ruin everything.”

“What?” Jesse looked like he was about to protest further, but Beca cut him off.

“Relationships, for me… they just take good friendships and totally ruin them. And I can’t do that with Chloe. I can’t ruin what we already have, it’s too valuable.”

Even the thought of it made Beca’s head spin – Chloe was _so important_ and Beca couldn’t lose her, ever. Chloe may be in love with her now, but Beca knew how those things went. A few months into what would be a pretty okay relationship, and Chloe would start to find Beca’s sarcasm a little less endearing. She’d become irritated with how Beca sometimes drowns in her work, she would start to get frustrated with Beca’s struggles to express her feelings. She would see Beca naked (holy _shit_ ) and realize that she wasn’t as beautiful as Chloe thought she was. That, when it came down to it, Beca was nothing special.

And when that happened, Beca wasn’t sure she would ever overcome it.

“No, I don’t want things to change.” She said, her voice slightly hoarse.

“Beca,” Amy said gently, “I kind of think they already have.”

* * *

By the time she had finally driven back to her apartment, Chloe had stopped crying. It wasn’t for lack of emotion, that’s for sure – Chloe still felt full to bursting with the pain of Beca’s words, but she had completely drained her supply of tears, at least for now. Instead, she felt as if there were a heavy weight attached to her chest as she opened the front door of her apartment.

Aubrey was sitting on the couch reading a magazine, but she turned to the door with wide eyes when Chloe came in. She took in Chloe’s appearance for just a moment before standing and rushing over to her friend’s side.

“Oh, Chlo.” Aubrey wrapped Chloe into a tight hug. Chloe vacantly wondered how Aubrey knew that her talk with Beca had gone poorly, but she supposed that the fact that she was _here_ at home instead of with Beca probably said enough. “I’m so sorry.” Aubrey whispered.

Chloe felt herself start to unravel further as she buried her face in Aubrey’s shoulder, holding on to her as if she was the only thing keeping Chloe afloat. At this point, she probably was. A choked sob escaped Chloe’s lips and new tears began to dampen the fabric of Aubrey’s shirt, but the blonde didn’t seem to mind. She simply held Chloe, rubbing gentle circles into her back.

An undeterminable amount of time passed before Chloe finally pulled away, wiping at her eyes. She made her way to the couch and slumped into it, bringing her knees up and curling into herself as if that would shield her from Beca’s lack of feelings.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Aubrey said softly, sitting beside Chloe.

Chloe took a long breath. She was tired – the kind of bone-deep exhaustion that one only feels when they’ve been crying for a while. Talking sounded like more than she could handle at the moment, but she figured she should at least tell Aubrey what happened, get a few words out. Maybe those words would help her feel a little better.

Probably not.

“She just… doesn’t love me.” Chloe said simply.

Aubrey blinked at her, silent for a moment. “She doesn’t?”

“I really thought she did.” Chloe whispered, her eyes glassing over again as a new round of tears threatened to break forth.

“I’m sorry, Chlo.” Aubrey pulled Chloe to her, letting the redhead snuggle into her side and cry all over her shirt once more. Chloe appreciated the action – Aubrey wasn’t quite the person she wanted to be cuddling with right now, but human contact always made her feel grounded when her feelings got out of control.

And maybe that was Chloe’s problem, really – she felt too much, always. She could never handle her emotions like a normal person; she cried at every movie and even the occasional commercial, she pretty much died of excitement every time she saw a furry creature, and she felt so much affection for her best friend that she had crossed a line and fallen in love with her.

If Chloe could just put a halt on all the _feeling,_ things probably wouldn’t hurt so much right now.

“I think I’m just…” Chloe sat up, shifting away from Aubrey. “I’m going to go to bed now. Thanks, Bree. Sorry I’m such a mess.”

“Don’t apologize,” Aubrey said, a fierce look in her eye. “If you didn’t love that little shit, I would go beat the crap out of her for making you cry.”

Chloe gave a weak smile. “Yeah, don’t do that. Please.”

Aubrey nodded, her face taking up that soft, sad look again. Chloe hated that she was making Aubrey look sad. “You get some rest, Chlo.”

With a nod and her best attempt at a smile, Chloe rose to her feet and found the way to her room. She went straight for the bed, burrowing under blankets and not even bothering to change into pajamas or brush her teeth. None of that really seemed to matter, at least for the moment.

 _You’ll be fine._ Chloe tried to reason with herself, _it’ll be fine._

Beca would still be her friend, if the DJ’s pleading before Chloe left was any indication. She would still get to experience the joy of having Beca around and that feeling of comfort Chloe felt whenever she looked into those dark blue eyes wouldn’t go away. Things didn’t have to change at all.

Beca wasn’t in love with her. No big deal, right?

…It was a big deal.

Chloe buried her face into the pillow, shutting her eyes and dong her best to also shut out the sadness and the fear and the freaking _love_ that was filling her entire being. She willed herself to sleep, hoping that the next day – and every day after that – she would love Beca a little less and things would be a little more okay.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sry bout the angst. You can yell at me on tumblr @crazypitches.


	11. Are We Out of the Woods Yet

Beca had wanted to call Chloe from the moment Amy and Jesse left her apartment the night before. She didn’t know what to say, since _hey just kidding I might be in love with you too?_ was definitely _not_ an option. She just wanted to talk to her best friend and, most of all, make sure that Chloe was alright.

She knew she shouldn’t, though – Chloe had asked for some time and Beca needed to respect that. Every time she picked up her phone, thumb hovering over Chloe’s name, Beca would take a deep breath and put the phone down, vowing to let Chloe come to her first.

That plan only lasted a day.

Beca sat on her bed – from which she hadn’t moved, other than the few hours she spent walking around work like a zombie – and stared at her phone. She knew she shouldn’t call Chloe. Chloe had asked for space.

But a text couldn’t hurt, right?

Beca opened up her messaging thread to Chloe and stared at the last message – a grinning emoji that Chloe had sent when Beca invited her over the day before. A dull pain spread through Beca’s chest as she remembered how smiley, excited Chloe Beale had been so swiftly replaced by the heartbroken person that had left Beca’s apartment last night.

She didn’t know what to say, but she had to say _something._

_Beca Mitchell: Hey Chlo. How are you doing?_

Beca felt the urge to chuck her phone across the room after she hit the send button. _How are you doing?_ What the fuck kind of question was that for their situation? It really didn’t deserve an answer and part of Beca hoped that she wouldn’t get one, but when the tiny grey dots appeared on Chloe’s side of the messaging thread, Beca held her phone in a death grip and waited.

_Chloe Beale: I’m doing okay_

Beca stared at the message until her phone went to sleep and the screen blinked off. She felt frustrated at the lack of information in Chloe’s text – what does “okay” mean? How does she feel about what happened? Is Aubrey taking care of her? Is she over it already? How could she be? – but she knew that if Chloe wanted to tell her more, she would’ve. Chloe was never one to hold things back, so the fact that she was doing so now told Beca that she really just needed to leave the redhead alone.

_Beca Mitchell: Alright. That’s good._

It was a stupid message, Beca knew that. She didn’t know how else to answer without pushing Chloe for more information, but she hoped that Chloe could tell that Beca didn’t actually think that anything about this situation was _good,_ that she knew Chloe was probably not okay and that she just wanted to give Chloe the space she needed.

Chloe would be able to tell all that from her message, right?

Talking to Chloe wasn’t supposed to be this hard. It was supposed to be easy, comfortable.

Beca tossed her phone onto the bedspread and fell flat onto her back, staring up the ceiling and feeling empty.

* * *

The days passed as they always did, perfectly normal – Chloe woke up at the crack of dawn to make it to Holy Grounds to open it at six. She worked through the morning, broke at lunch and ate in the back room, scrolling through Facebook and eating one of the café’s sandwiches, and then left work mid-afternoon when Aubrey arrived and took over her shift. She went home, put on sweatpants, watched television, ate ice cream, and cried.

Okay, so maybe that part wasn’t quite so normal.

It was Friday afternoon and Chloe was slumped on the couch, a bowl of popcorn on the seat beside her and a blanket tucked in around her body despite the fact that it was really quite warm outside. She hadn’t seen Beca since her disastrous confession on Monday, and Chloe felt her absence constantly, like a nagging feeling like she had forgotten something, no matter where she was or who she was with.

She had heard from Beca, but Chloe didn’t quite know what to say to Beca’s occasional messages of _how are you doing_ and _what’s up Chlo_ and _Chopped is ridiculous tonight._ Beca was trying, Chloe could tell that much. She felt guilty about texting back noncommittal answers and failing to hold a simple conversation with her friend, but every time she saw Beca’s face light up her phone, the piece of her heart that was still bleeding into her chest just started pounding a little harder.

It was ridiculous, though – Chloe knew that, too. She had to get over it, as she had been trying to from the second she realized Beca didn’t feel the same way. And avoiding Beca, sitting around and pining over her, crying every time she got a text message or every time she heard “Flashlight” come on over the café radio, would never help her move on.

So it was time to see Beca again.

Chloe picked up her phone and called Aubrey, biting on her lower lip as she waited for her to pick up. The call went to voicemail and Chloe pouted, ending the call without leaving a message and immediately dialing again. This time, Aubrey picked up after three rings.

“This is Aubrey Posen.”

“Obviously.” Chloe grinned. She could never understand why Aubrey always answered her phone that way, even when she knew it was just Chloe calling. Aubrey insisted it was force of habit.

“Chloe, I’m at work.” Aubrey practically barked into the phone, clearly irritated with the interruption to business.

“Yeah, I know…” Chloe said, “Is Stacie there with you?” When Aubrey responded affirmatively, Chloe went on. “You guys have to come out to the bar with me tonight.”

Aubrey was silent for a beat. “Why?”

“Because I’m inviting Beca out. And I don’t want to do it alone.” Because _that_ would be a disaster, Chloe was sure. If she could bring Stacie and Aubrey along, she would have a security blanket – good friends to hide behind in case seeing Beca became too hard for her.

“Are you sure about that, Chloe? It’s only been a few days…”

Chloe cut her off before Aubrey could launch into a full lecture about how to get over break-ups. She had heard it before and besides, Beca and Chloe didn’t _actually_ break up. “I know, Bree, but I need to see her again. You know, just move on. I’d really appreciate it if you guys were there. Just the bar, no club… you don’t have to go hard or anything. Just come hang out.”

She heard Aubrey take a long breath from the other line. “Okay, fine. We’ll be there.”

“You asked Stacie?”

“No, but she’ll say yes. Obviously.”

Chloe chuckled. “Thank you so much, Bree.”

“The _only_ reason I am agreeing is so I can pulverize that stupid DJ if she hurts you any more than she already has.”

“I know. You’re the best.”

“That’s right.”

Aubrey and Chloe said their goodbyes and hung up, leaving Chloe to stare at her phone with trepidation. As the anxiety filled her chest and made her almost dizzy, she took a deep, calming breath, and typed out a text message to Beca.

_Chloe Beale: Aubrey, Stace, and I are going out for drinks tonight. You can come if you want._

Chloe was surprised when the answer came almost immediately. Beca should’ve still been at work and she usually didn’t carry her phone on her there. Nevertheless, her phone pinged with an incoming message and Beca’s name lit up on the screen.

_Beca Mitchell: Are you sure?_

Chloe hadn’t been expecting that answer, either. It was awkward, she thought, a bad way to start off the whole _I’m getting over you and we’re just friends and it’s fine_ thing that she wanted to accomplish that night. It was a reasonable question, though – Chloe had been thoroughly avoiding Beca all week; the DJ was probably convinced that Chloe never wanted to see her again.

_Chloe Beale: Yeah. Only if you want though_

_Beca Mitchell: Of course! I’ll see you there :)_

Chloe closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It would be fine. _It would be fine._ She would see Beca and it would be _fine._

* * *

The first half hour of hanging out with Chloe was incredibly awkward. Beca had expected some initial discomfort when she arrived at the bar – their last meeting had been a tad bit tragic, after all. But everything felt so completely _different_ and that was what inspired Beca to order a huge beer and gulp it down as quickly as possible.

When she had entered the bar, Chloe greeted her with a smile. Which was great, because Beca really missed her smile. Not as much as she missed Chloe’s hugs, though, so when the redhead didn’t move from her stool next to Aubrey but just motioned for Beca to join them, she felt her heart drop a little lower into her stomach. There was a palpable tension in the air that everyone present wanted to eliminate, so they all ordered their drinks and set about making light conversation without any fanfare.

And now, half an hour later, Beca was down one very large beer and the atmosphere between the group had relaxed substantially. Chloe was still occasionally taking in a deep, shaky breath, which kind of worried Beca, but she seemed a little more comfortable than she had been when Beca first arrived. Conversation was easy as always as the four of them discussed their work weeks (mostly listening to Beca’s stories, since the rest did happen to work together, after all). Beca smiled into her second beer, feeling like _maybe_ she and Chloe really could just pick up where they left off.

But even through the pleasant buzz that filled her head and the conversation that made its way across the bar, Beca could tell that it was still different. If this were any other night, Beca and Chloe would be smiling goofily at each other, missing pieces of Aubrey and Stacie’s stories because they were too busy staring each other down with sparkling eyes. They would probably be holding hands, and as the alcohol began to make both of their minds a little mushy, they would probably lean into each other, practically cuddling right there at the bar, all giggles and adoring looks.

And Beca had the audacity to think that she wasn’t in love with Chloe Beale.

Chloe glanced over at Beca with questioning eyes, pulling the DJ out of her mope. Beca took a long swig to finish her second beer and smiled at Chloe, assuring her friend that she was _fine_ totally _fine_ and having a great time.

It was only half a lie – she was happy to be there with Chloe. Their week apart had been much too long. But no, she wasn’t quite fine.

By the time they were ready to leave, Beca was pretty substantially drunk. That was what happened when you down your anxiety and frustrations in several drinks, she supposed. But Chloe had been looking at her with her stupid face and stupid eyes all night but hadn’t been touching her or saying sweet stupid things to her and Beca’s heart felt just as constricted as her head felt fuzzy.

They made their way out of the bar, Stacie leaning pretty heavily on Aubrey as they walked towards Aubrey’s car. Beca eyed them with thinly veiled jealousy – _they_ were friends that could hang all over each other as if they were in love, and nobody had any problem with _that._

“I’m going to drive Stace home,” Aubrey said, glancing down at the brunette that was watching her with a wide smile as she hung off Aubrey’s shoulder. “Are you guys…” Aubrey sent a questioning look to Chloe. The world was spinning a little too much for Beca to understand what the look was trying to say.

Chloe bit her lip and looked at Beca, standing beside her. Beca thought that the redhead was probably a lot more sober than she was at that moment – her eyes didn’t hold the haziness of a drunk person and she wasn’t sporting the huge, unapologetic smile of a drunk Beale.

“Beca,” Chloe said, snapping Beca out of her drunken observations, “You’re… kinda drunk.”

“No I’m _not._ ” Beca insisted, raising a finger threateningly. Chloe simply smiled at that and Beca felt herself melt.

“You are. You probably shouldn’t walk all the way home alone.”

Beca frowned. “’S probably true, Chloe Beale.” She slurred, making Chloe smile again.

She paused, though, the uncertain look in her eyes returning once more. “Uh, do you want to crash at our place for the night?”

Beca knew that Chloe and Aubrey lived just a block away from the bar, while it had taken Beca twenty minutes to walk there soberly. She also knew that drunken nights shared with Chloe _usually_ meant lots of cuddling, so Beca didn’t have to think twice before bobbing her head up and down with a huge smile.

Aubrey was looking at Chloe with concerned eyes. “You sure you’ll be okay?” She whispered. Beca could _hear,_ though. She wasn’t _that_ drunk. She wanted to step in front of Chloe and ensure Aubrey that _of course_ she’d be okay because Beca would never ever let anything happen to her ever and she would be at Chloe’s side _forever_ to protect her from the evils of the world.

Instead, Chloe gave a small nod and gestured for Aubrey to take Stacie home in her car.

Once Aubrey had pulled out of the parking lot, Chloe started off for their apartment. Throughout the short walk Beca trailed after Chloe like a puppy, wide eyes focused on her companion with such fascination that she tripped more than once over her own feet.

The atmosphere was tense when Chloe opened the door to her apartment – Beca was still sensible enough to notice that. She watched Chloe, her chest feeling tight and heavy, and wished desperately that things could be normal.

Chloe glanced around the room with some trepidation. “Uh,” She said, scratching the back of her neck in an uncharacteristically nervous way, “I can get you some blankets for the couch.”

The words pierced through the cloud of drunkenness that surrounded Beca’s head, hitting her hard and sending her heart into her stomach. “Oh.” She squeaked, swaying slightly. “No cuddles tonight?”

The part of Beca’s brain that was cataloguing and storing these memories for sober-Beca to remember later was screaming at this childish comment, but drunk-Beca ignored it, feeling too inexplicably sad to be embarrassed at that moment. Chloe, for her part, looked just as broken; her face seemed to crack at Beca’s words, and her blue eyes were sparkling with wetness rather than their usual liveliness. She looked at Beca with such _longing –_ even through her drunken haze Beca could feel it as if it were reaching out to her, wrapping around her, everywhere – just not close enough to touch.

“Beca, I-“ Her voice sounded hoarse. “I don’t think so.”

Beca nodded slowly, biting into her bottom lip and trying not to cry. Because that would be _absolutely_ ridiculous – Beca effin’ Mitchell did not cry at shit like this. But Beca effin’ Mitchell had had a lot to drink and was feeling really fucking sad. People cry when they are sad. She blinked back the tears, though, and took a hesitant step forward to Chloe.

“Can…” Beca paused, feeling nervous as Chloe’s eyes widened in trepidation, “Can I give you a hug?” The question came out softly, just barely a whisper.

Chloe took a long, deep breath through her nose and Beca prepared herself to be rejected yet again. She deserved it, she supposed, after rejecting Chloe so harshly earlier in the week. If only she could turn back time and convince Chloe to never ask that question in the first place so they could just be _them_ again.

Chloe nodded, though, and opened her arms. Beca fell into her quickly, wrapping her arms tightly around Chloe’s waist and burying her face into her shoulder, breathing in the smell of her. Chloe returned the embrace gently, running soothing circles into Beca’s back and holding her close.

They were silent for what felt like forever. For Beca, it still wasn’t long enough.

“I missed you.” Beca whispered, clutching at Chloe like a lifeline. She squeezed her eyes shut when Chloe sighed – the moisture there was threatening to fall into Chloe’s shirt and Beca didn’t want to ruin it with her stupid tears because Chloe looked _pretty_ and Beca didn’t want to mess that up ever.

After a moment Beca gave up on receiving a response to her confession. But then the answer came – words whispered so softly that Beca could barely distinguish them from the sounds of Chloe breathing.

“I missed you too.”

Beca smiled into Chloe’s shoulder, willing the moment to never end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay on that one. Please let me know what you think, your comments always encourage me to update faster! We're starting to near the conclusion of this one. Find me on tumblr @crazypitches


	12. I Wish You Would

Aubrey Posen was the type of person who saw the world in black and white – right and wrong, good and bad, functional or broken. Perhaps it was this outlook that caused her to be a bit harsher than most people her age; it was true that she was a perfectionist and had been known to snap easily when others messed with her precisely crafted plans in her black-and-white world. But despite pissing a few people off, Aubrey’s tactics got results. And to her, that was the important thing.

The recent situation with Beca and Chloe, however, had Aubrey feeling unsure. She liked Beca, she really did – Beca had a piss-poor attitude and Aubrey kind of couldn’t stand the way that she dressed herself, but Beca was good for Chloe and Aubrey couldn’t help but like her for that. So yes, she had liked her – until she had gone and stomped all over Chloe’s heart.

This was where the comfortable contrasts of Aubrey’s world started to blend into shades of gray. Aubrey knew that Chloe loved Beca. Obviously. Aubrey assumed that Beca loved Chloe too, despite being too damn stupid to admit it. That much still seemed pretty clear, judging by the way Beca had acted when they all went out to the bar. But relationships are a little more complicated than just pure  _ feelings  _ and now Aubrey didn’t know what to think.

She wanted Chloe happy, of course. That was her main concern in the whole ordeal. But would Chloe be happy without Beca? If she and Beca did get together, would she be happy then? Or even if she _was_ happy with Beca, would that really be the best, healthiest relationship for Chloe? If Beca did love her then she had already proven herself too much a coward to do anything about it and had been content to lie to Chloe instead. Is that the type of person that Aubrey wanted her best friend, arguably the most important person in her life, to end up with?

There were too many variables. Aubrey couldn’t see a clear solution, and it was killing her.

So when Jesse Swanson walked into Holy Grounds one Monday morning, Aubrey felt a renewed irritation for the situation between Chloe and Beca. That didn’t necessarily have anything to do with Jesse, but there was a guilty look in his eyes when he met Aubrey’s gaze. A guilty look that Aubrey just knew had to do with the bullshit between their friends.

“Hey, Aubrey.” Jesse said, running a hand through his hair.

“What can I get you?” She was probably a little snippier than necessary, but she had no desire to beat around the bush. Jesse could spit out whatever he clearly wanted to say, or he could order coffee and get the hell out of her café.

“Uh,” Jesse stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels, “I was hoping I could talk to you, actually.”

Aubrey narrowed her eyes. “I’m working.”

“Yeah… can you like, take a break?” He made a point to look over Aubrey’s shoulder at Stacie, who, inconveniently for Aubrey’s excuses, was busy doing nothing.

With a huff, Aubrey pulled off her apron and started to make her way out from behind the counter. “What is it?” They made their way to a table and sat, Jesse fiddling with the hem of his sweatshirt and Aubrey crossing her arms with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, I wanted to talk to you about Beca and Chloe.”

_ What a surprise.  _ Aubrey said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

“I know that Beca, uh… told Chloe some things? And like…”

“She broke Chloe’s heart.” Aubrey said firmly.

“Yeah, that. Uh, but I guess I wanted to tell you that Beca really  _ does  _ love Chloe. She told us – me and Amy, I mean – she told us that.”

Aubrey couldn’t say that this was news to her. Sure, she’d never heard Beca admit her feelings in words, but it had always been obvious. Aubrey continued to stare at Jesse.

“Uh…” Jesse looked confused by her lack of response.

“So what?” Aubrey snapped. “She told Chloe otherwise.”

“I know that. But they should be together, you know? And I figured we could…”

“What?” Aubrey cut him off, the mild irritation she had felt when he entered the café rising to verifiable anger. “Talk to Chloe for Beca? Work out their issues so that Beca doesn’t have to face them herself?”

“Well, no… but….”

“Listen, Jesse.” Aubrey sat up a little straighter in her chair. “Chloe is the most amazing person I’ve ever met. She deserves the best.” Jesse nodded slowly. “If Beca doesn’t care enough about Chloe to tell her how she feels – tell her  _ herself  _ and to Chloe’s  _ face  _ – then she doesn’t deserve to be with her.” 

Jesse was still for a moment. “Aubrey, come on. They love each other. Don’t you want them to be happy together?”

“I want  _ Chloe  _ to be happy. I’m not sure anymore that being with Beca is the best way for her to accomplish that.” Jesse didn’t say anything for a moment, and Aubrey let out a long sigh. “Listen,” she started, “I know you probably came in here with some sitcom-worthy plan to get our friends together, but you need to leave them be.”

“But Aubrey –“

“No.” She cut him off. “Beca clearly needs to work through some shit if she wants to be with Chloe. You need to let her do that. If she can figure herself out and they can be happy together? That’d be great. Sure. But until then, I’m not going to mess with Chloe’s emotions even more. You haven’t seen her lately – Beca messed her up, Jesse. She broke Chloe’s heart. I’m not going to give Chloe some shitty false hope that Beca might come around only to watch as Beca never grows up and Chloe pines after her for the rest of their lives. Chloe deserves the chance to move on.”

Jesse nodded slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right. I didn’t think…. I guess I didn’t think about how it would be leading Chloe on to tell her what Beca told us. You’re right, Beca’s gotta do it herself.”

Aubrey nodded swiftly, decisively, and stood up. “That’s it?”

“Uh, yeah. I’ll see you later, Aubrey.” Jesse gave her a smile and weird half-wave and stood himself, making his way out of the café.

Aubrey returned to behind the counter and slumped against the wall, letting out a long sigh. Stacie wrapped an arm around her waist and Aubrey leaned into her side.

“Everything okay?” Stacie said, brushing a strand of hair out of Aubrey’s face.

“Mm. Yeah.” She looked up at Stacie, smiling softly. “Thanks for telling me how you felt, Stace. I’m really happy.”

Stacie responded with a bright smile and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to Aubrey’s forehead before stepping back to the counter and the next waiting customer.

* * *

 

_ Beca Mitchell: Wanna come shopping with me? _

Chloe raised an eyebrow, confused. Beca wasn’t generally one for shopping.

_ Beca Mitchell: For the Grammys, I mean. This isn’t like… a random shopping trip for fun. Cause, you know. I hate shopping. _

The slight grin on Chloe’s face at Beca’s second text was quickly overshadowed by a pool of anxiety settling somewhere between her chest and stomach. Beca had invited Chloe to the Grammy Awards  _ before _ – before Chloe had admitted her feelings and everything got weird and bad. Chloe had assumed she would no longer be accompanying her friend to the ceremony.

_ Probably still the case.  _ She told herself,  _ she just wants me to help pick out an outfit. _

_ Chloe Beale: Yeah, sure. We can find you something nice. _

The response took several minutes to come through.

_ Beca Mitchell: Just me? _

Chloe stared at the message, unsure.

_ Beca Mitchell: Do you already know what you’re wearing? _

A breathy laugh escaped Chloe’s lips and she rolled her eyes at herself. So Beca  _ did  _ want her there. She was really going to go to the Grammys with her… friend.

_ Chloe Beale: No, I don’t _

_ Chloe Beale: I guess I wasn’t sure I was still invited? _

This time the response came immediately.

_ Beca Mitchell: Of course you are, dude. _

Chloe cringed just slightly at being addressed as “dude” – she shouldn’t have, though, because Beca called everyone “dude.” All of her friends. And that’s what Chloe was, just one of the bros.

_ Chloe Beale: :) I’m so glad. Thanks Becs _

_ Beca Mitchell: :) When are you free? _ __

* * *

 

Beca needed to calm down.

She was pacing back and forth across her living room – probably driving her downstairs neighbors crazy – waiting for Chloe to pick her up to go shopping. The two hadn’t seen each other since their night drinking, when Beca made a complete ass of herself by coming back with Chloe, seeking the comfort and affection she had become accustomed to while Chloe barely held herself together. Beca felt immensely guilty about that, but Chloe had eschewed any attempt at an apology, saying that things were “feeling a little better” and that “it’s not a big deal.”

Beca didn’t know what to make of that, of course, because it  _ was  _ a big deal, this shit between them. And if Chloe was feeling better, does that mean she’s moved on already?

Because, well, shit. Beca wanted Chloe to be happy, of course. So maybe it was for the best. But Beca was slowly – very slowly – coming to terms with the fact that she loved Chloe back, in  _ that  _ way, and right now it felt way too terrifying and impossible to actually do anything about, but if Chloe moved on before Beca got her shit together than it would be even more heartbreaking and horrible and  _ damn  _ this was all a mess.

But right now, Beca needed to chill; Chloe would be here any minute and what they needed most, more than Beca’s confused feelings that held huge potential to hurt Chloe further, was a nice, normal afternoon of being friends.

Because insisting on the whole “being friends” thing had worked out so well for them thus far. Whatever. 

Beca’s phone vibrated in her hand, drawing her out of her pacing and fretting. 

_ Chloe Beale: Hey, I’m downstairs _

Oh. Chloe wasn’t going to come up. That shouldn’t be too surprising, Beca supposed, seeing as how the last time that Chloe was in this apartment had not gone particularly well. But still, Beca’s chest tightened as she locked her front door and made her way to Chloe’s car. 

“Hey, Chlo.” Beca climbed into the passenger seat, plopping her bag onto her lap and looking over to Chloe. It was  _ so  _ good to see her, even if Chloe’s smile wasn’t the blindingly huge grin she was used to. “You ready for this?”   
Chloe threw the car into drive and pulled into the bustling LA traffic. “Am  _ I  _ ready for this?” She said, glancing over to Beca, “I’m not the one who considers shopping a form of capital punishment.” 

Beca chuckled. “Whatever. Shopping sucks.” 

“But this is a special occasion.” 

“Yeah, that’s why I’m willing to do it, I guess.” Beca’s habits for purchasing clothing usually consisted of a thrift store run once every year or so, but that probably wouldn’t cut it for the Grammys. 

“Well, I’m excited!” 

Chloe’s smile was still bright enough to elicit a warm feeling in Beca’s chest. “Hey,” she said softly, getting Chloe’s attention at a red light, “I’m really glad we’re doing this. Thank you for agreeing to come to this thing with me.”    
Chloe turned her attention back to the road with a somewhat sad smile. “You make it sound like such a chore. Thank  _ you  _ for bringing me to the freaking Grammy Awards. Especially after… well.” She paused, swallowing hard, “you know.” 

Beca’s heart was in her throat and she blinked away the moisture that was gathering in her traitorous eyes. “Chloe, I-” 

“Can we not talk about it?” Chloe interrupted, glancing over to Beca with a weak look. “I’m sorry, I just… I can’t. Yet.”

“Of course.” Beca settled back in her seat, letting out a long breath. “But I’m glad you still want to come the show with me.”

“The chance to hang out with a bunch of celebrities?” The warmth didn’t quite reach Chloe’s eyes as she tried to inject some levity into the conversation. “Wouldn’t miss it, obvs.”

* * *

 

Beca usually hated shopping because she felt weird and uncomfortable in most “fashionable” clothes and she kind of hated her short, awkward body. But today she hated shopping because Chloe was  _ beautiful  _ but also so clearly sad. Beca knew that under normal circumstances, Chloe would be bouncing off the walls at the excuse to buy an expensive dress and to drag Beca along with her in the process. And some of that excitement was there today, but it was definitely subdued, hidden behind the deep, steadying breaths that Chloe would take and the way that Chloe’s eyes never stayed on Beca for very long. 

The whole trying on dresses thing sucked, too. They had been to a couple different boutiques in downtown Los Angeles, places that Chloe had researched and led them to because Beca obviously had no idea where to buy clothes for an awards ceremony. But while the places were all fancy and the staff enthusiastic (they were clearly working on commission), neither Beca nor Chloe had yet to find the perfect wardrobe. Beca was starting to think it didn’t exist. 

They entered a smaller boutique that had gowns displayed in a tinsel-lined window. The shop attendant, a perky blonde woman in her twenties, greeted them, offering them a beverage and asking what they were looking for. Chloe struck up a conversation, describing their situation, and Beca took the opportunity to wander off and avoid another overly-chipper salesperson. 

She gave the bargain rack a once over, feeling unmotivated to actually pull out any of the dresses that hung there. Past the rack was a selection of tailored women’s suits, which drew a genuine spark of interest from Beca as she approached them. She ran her hand down the sleeve of one of the jackets, feeling the thick black fabric. They were more formal than a business suit; the type of thing a woman could wear to a fancy event, like, say, the Grammy Awards. 

“A suit?” Beca flinched as she realized that Chloe had come to stand beside her. 

“Uh… I don’t know. What do you think?”

Chloe glanced at her, a strange look in her eyes, before flipping through the suits and selecting one. “I think you would look amazing, of course.” She handed a suit to Beca and made eye contact with the attendant, who apparently had been hovering behind them. “Can she try this on?”

The salesperson nodded and led Beca to a changing room in the back. Beca was surprised with how well the suit fit; at a place like this they would definitely make adjustments for her, but Chloe had somehow been able to pick one of the rack that was already pretty spot on. Beca chuckled, pulling on the jacket and adjusting the collar. Of course Chloe would know how to dress her better than Beca herself did. 

When Beca exited the dressing area, Chloe was chatting with the attendant, looking at a long blue gown that probably matched her eyes ridiculously well. Beca cleared her throat to get the attention of two, but immediately regretted it; the smile that had been on Chloe’s face faded almost immediately as she looked at Beca. She could see the unshed tears build up behind Chloe’s big blue eyes and inwardly cursed herself for being the cause of such a reaction. 

“You…” The word came out somewhat choked, and Chloe cleared her throat before continuing. “You look really great, Becs.” She blinked a few times, looking down. “Uh… I’m gonna go try this on.” 

She hastened past Beca without another look. Beca let out a long breath and then raised her eyebrows at the stop attendant, who had been watching them curiously. 

“Uh…” Beca gestured to the suit, which apparently Chloe had… approved of? “Can you like… help me…”    
“Oh, yes! Let’s get your measurements for this.” Beca was grateful to let the salesperson lead her around so that she didn’t have to think for a few minutes. She was less grateful that the look in Chloe’s brilliant eyes had been so damn sad. A face that perfect shouldn’t ever look that tragic, Beca thought. 

She was back in her skinny jeans and flannel shirt when Chloe finally emerged from the dressing room. And if the feelings that threatened to claw their way out of Beca’s chest at the sight of Chloe in the gown were anything like the redhead had felt seeing Beca in the suit, Beca understood why Chloe had needed a little extra time. 

Because,  _ damn.  _ Chloe was divine. 

Beca felt her breath hitch as Chloe stepped into the main room, the vivid blue dress causing her eyes to practically glow as she looked up at Beca, a small shy smile on Chloe’s face. Her hair fell in soft red curls around bare shoulders, and the only thing Beca could think was how she wanted to run her fingers through those curls, to hold Chloe close to her and  _ never  _ let go again, because Chloe was  _ perfect  _ and how could anyone reject someone like her?   
  
“Chloe… you look so beautiful.” She felt choked up herself, and the pain in her chest worsened as Chloe’s eyes fluttered closed, brow furrowed, and she shook her head slightly. 

“Beca…”   
  
“I know.” Beca sighed. “I… sorry. But, um. You should get that one, if you like it.” 

It wasn’t fair to Chloe, Beca knew -- it wasn’t fair to say shit like “you’re so beautiful” when just a couple weeks ago she was saying “you’re my best friend.” Beca didn’t have that right, as much as she wanted to erase time and all of the shit and just be able to feel the warmth of Chloe pressed against her. 

“Uh, yeah,” Chloe sniffed, turning her attention to the salesperson, who was standing awkwardly on the side. “Yeah, this’ll do.”

* * *

 

Beca stared at her ceiling, the frustration and self-loathing that had been bubbling inside her all night reaching a critical peak. She rolled to her side, kicking off blankets that weren’t doing her any good anyway because she was wide awake, and had been since she went to bed hours ago. 

She snatched her phone off the table, blinking at its harsh light as she stabbed the home button as if it were the one to thank for her sleeplessness. 3:24 am. Too goddamn late. She was tired, angry, and dammit, she missed Chloe. She missed her from the moment Chloe dropped her off after their shopping trip, earlier that day.

Beca stared at the picture of the two of them that lit up her lock screen. They were so  _ happy.  _ Beca longed for that, for the gooey feeling that filled her whenever she remembered that Chloe was in her life. 

And Chloe was  _ in love  _ with her. Beca had been so confused and upset, so beyond bewildered at the fact that someone like  _ Chloe  _ could love someone like  _ her  _ that she never stopped to consider how warm that made her feel. 

Because Chloe  _ loved  _ her. Chloe. The most amazing person in the entire world. 

Beca could not believe she had screwed it up. 

Before she could really think about it, the phone was ringing. It was the middle of the night so of course Chloe wouldn’t answer, but Beca had needed to call. To reach out, even in this cowardly way. To hear her voice on the answering machine. 

The message started up, Chloe’s cheery voice in Beca’s ear. 

_ Okay,  _ Beca thought,  _ time to hang up. Hang up.  _

“Hey, Chlo.” 

_ Fuck.   _ Well, she was in this now. 

“Uh….” She trailed off, flipping over to her other side. She didn’t know what to say, now. Why had she called, exactly? Because she’s an idiot? Yeah, that’s probably why. 

Beca laughed, a humorless chuckle. “So here’s me, calling you at 3:30am. Um. I’m glad you didn’t pick up, I wouldn’t have wanted to wake you.” She let out a long breath. “I just… shit, Chlo. I don’t really know what I’m doing. Why I called. It’s just… this is all so shitty, right?

“Not like I have the right to say that, even. I’m the one who hurt you. God. I wish I hadn’t. And the thing is…” Beca closed her eyes tight, curling into herself. She needed to say it. Chloe deserved that much. But the tightness in her chest threatened to explode and she could feel the tears beginning to build, threatening to make this even worse. Beca would  _ not  _ cry over the phone. 

“The thing is, Chlo… Well, I didn’t lie to you, that…. That night. I was just so confused and, I guess, really shocked? It caught me by surprise which is so  _ stupid  _ when I think about it now because like you said, how could I not have known?    
“Anyway.” Beca forced out a shaky breath through pursed lips. “I didn’t lie, but I  _ was  _ wrong. So wrong. Of course I love you, Chloe. Of course I…. I mean, yeah. I am  _ in  _ love with you. Because you’re… well, you’re  _ radiant,  _ Chloe. You’re my best friend but you are so much more than that, so much more than I could ever explain. And I just…. I look at you and my heart feels so full that I don’t know what to do with it.

“And I don’t know how I didn’t realize that before.” Beca was silent for a moment, staring into the darkness with the phone pressed against her ear. Everything inside her hurt. 

“But Chlo… I just don’t know if I can do this. I’m scared. It’s…. I haven’t had many relationships, but they always end in disaster, you know? And Chloe, you are  _ so  _ important to me. The thought of… of  _ having  _ something with you and it falling apart… I don’t think I could handle that. I can’t lose you, Chlo.”

Beca couldn’t stop the tears, at this point. She curled her free hand in a fist around her blankets, squeezing as if the force of her grip could dispel the dark thoughts curling around her head and heart. 

“I don’t know how you could want to be with me, Chloe.” Beca whispered, “You deserve so much better. And I know, god, I  _ know  _ that this is so unfair to you, for me to be calling like this and saying all these things after I…. rejected you. I’m such a coward I can’t even say this to your face, I just leave a message while you’re asleep? What’s wrong with you, Beca?” She shook her head, letting out a breathy, bitter laugh. 

“I don’t know what to do, Chloe. I know how I feel about you, I’ve finally owned up to it. But I’m just so… I’m so scared.” 

Beca was silent for a moment longer, unsure of what to say, simultaneously relieved that she’d finally told Chloe how she felt and regretting every word she’d said. 

“I’m sorry, Chloe. I… I’m gonna stop talking now. Before I make this any worse than I already have. Uh, I love you. I just want you to know that much, at least. Goodnight.”

Beca tossed her phone onto the bedside table without another look, burying her face in her pillow and letting the hot tears flow until she was too exhausted to stay awake.

* * *

 

In the morning, she didn’t want to look. But she had to. 

_ One missed call: Chloe Beale _

_ Chloe Beale: So, I think we need to talk.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't think I'd ever update this? You and me both! But here we are, two years later. That's a freaking long time. 
> 
> I hope some people are still interested in reading this. Only two chapters after this one, so even if my writing skills have deteriorated hardcore in the last two years, there's not too much left to get through. We'll see how it goes. I'm at tumblr @crazypitches and I would love to hear from you!


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